


Burnin' Down the House

by CeleryThesis



Category: Dancing with the Stars (US) RPF, Figure Skating RPF, Olympics RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-24
Updated: 2014-05-27
Packaged: 2018-01-16 20:56:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 35
Words: 44,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1361506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeleryThesis/pseuds/CeleryThesis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Meryl Davis and her skating partner Charlie White compete on Dancing with the Stars a few weeks after winning the gold medal in ice dance at the 2014 Winter Olympics. This work exists in the same universe as Yet Another Brick.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fiction and is not a reflection of the lives and relationships of the real people.

Los Angeles

March 2014

Meryl:  Week 1

 

A producer told Meryl at their first meeting that she would not have Derek Hough as a partner.

"Believe me when I tell you this."

Never a good way to start a conversation, in Meryl's experience.

"The amount of backlash it would cause would overshadow your whole experience."

Meryl took her word for it and let speculations run wild for a few seconds before the woman continued.

"No, we have something exciting planned for you."

Meryl immediately pictured herself running away from an exploding car.  That's weird.

"What would you say if I told you that a pro who has been off the show has expressed interest in coming back, but only with the right partner."

Meryl wasn't sure if that was a question.

"I would say...that's interesting."

Wow, setting the standard for articulate response there, Davis.

"Maksim Chmerkovskiy."

Meryl wasn't an avid watcher of the show, but she had seen every episode of Evan Lysacek's season.  Maks was Erin Andrew's partner. Meryl thought he was the hottest guy on there by far.  Instant blush.

"Well, okay then."

 

Meryl had started planning for her temporary move to LA about thirty minutes after finding out she and Charlie had been selected.  At any break doing media rounds or practicing for the gala in Sochi, Meryl was on her iPad (sketchy wifi not withstanding) looking at real estate sites to find a place she would love to stay in.  She found a one room one bathroom apartment in Malibu.  It was two blocks from the beach. Sold. 

"What are you going to do about lodging in LA?" she asked Charlie. He looked at her like she asked him to translate something into Mandarin.

"The show is putting us up in a hotel."

"I know, but I really don't want to live in a hotel for a month. I want a real home base."

"You know we're going on tour starting in April and won't even be in LA much, right?

"Yeah...but still I want a little place that's mine. We'll be in hotel after hotel on tour, I want a little home."

"You have a little home.  In Michigan."

"Charlie, thank you for your input."

"Meryl, that's the nicest shut the fuck up you've ever given me.  We just never stop growing."

Meryl went straight from the airport to meet with the owner.  The neighborhood was more beautiful than she had imagined.  The "apartment" was a spare bedroom and bath in an older couple's home.  No kitchen.  No private entrance.  It was pretty much a hotel room with much homier furnishings. And less privacy. Still, the neighborhood.

"Are you an actress, dear?" Linda asked her.  They were sitting at the kitchen table, which looked out into a lush backyard.  According to Meryl's phone, it was snowing in Canton. Linda's husband Ed was sitting in front of a laptop in the living room.

"No, I'm a skater.  Ice dancer."

"Oh, really.  Have you been to the Olympics?"

"Yes, in fact, I just got back."

"How did you do?"

"We won.  My partner and I. Charlie. We won the gold medal."

"Meryl Davis?" yelled Ed from the living room.

"Yes?" Meryl replied. He apparently wasn't speaking to her.

"She's all over YouTube." Nothing like being cyber stalked from the next room.

"I'm going to be on _Dancing with the Stars_."

She signed the lease for three months.  Why not?

 

The first meeting with Maks was half set-up and half real first reaction.  She really hadn't met him or spoken on the phone.  This really was their first encounter, right there on camera.  But both knew the other was the one chosen.  And presumably both had done extensive research.  Okay, she did extensive research.  For all she knew Maks had just seen her on a Visa commercial. Or not at all.

He was charming, sweet and funny immediately.

"I love you. And I want to marry you."

He obviously had a checklist of topics given to him by producers they had to get through: her relationship with Charlie, working with Derek, her past ballroom experience. She was honest about Derek at least.  They started working on their dance, a cha-cha-cha.  Meryl had learned the steps over the years, so it was more a matter of refinement than learning a whole new technique.  Of course they would play up all the differences between ice dancing and ballroom, and it wasn't like Dance Sport was busting down her door, but she knew how to cha cha.

After taping for an hour or so, they were rushed into wardrobe for the photo-shoot.  There was Charlie.  They made introductions of their partners.  Meryl liked Sharna instantly.  The pros went over to the clothing racks to see what had been selected.  Meryl stuck by Charlie.

"This is wild."

"It is. We have contemporary, what do you have? "

"Cha cha."

"How is your house working out? "

"Too soon to tell."

"You can always stay at the hotel."

"I signed a three month lease."

"Oh my god."

The photo-shoot was a blast.  Just based on the shoes alone, Meryl was going to have the time of her life. The four of them had an instant rapport. They left fairly late in spite of having a 4:30 AM call the next day for the Good Morning America announcement.

Maks was not really a morning person, but he did his best.

"So I guess this is normal for training?"

"This is earlier than training.  And more glamorous."

"Sleeping is glamorous.  How do you take your coffee?"

"I'm a tea person, actually. I like a chai soy latte.  How do you take yours?"

"Black usually.  Americano if I'm feeling special."

"Do you know we're heading to Michigan tomorrow?"

"I heard that."

"Sorry to take you out of this weather."

"I'm from New Jersey; it's supposed to be cold this time of year.  And I'm looking forward to seeing more of Detroit.  It's got that great American city vibe."

"Oh boy, you should talk to Charlie if you have an hour or two to spare."

The four of them ended up together on the plane the next day.  Meryl was amazed at how well they got on, in spite of them not having a whole lot in common, as far as interests.  Maks and Sharna were really into music, and their social lives seemed very connected to the dance world.  Sharna was dating a fellow dancer based in LA. Meryl realized how long it had been since she had socialized with people outside of skating.  Since college and living in the sorority house three years ago? Yikes.  One common topic they were able to settle on:  they all watched _The Walking Dead_.  Did everyone watch that show?

"Oh yeah, _The Walking Dead_." Charlie looked at Meryl with a twinkle in his eye.  She shot him back a look that shouted: don't even think about it. He heeded the warning.

"We like that show a whole lot."

"We, as in you and Meryl?" replied Sharna.

"Well, yes."

"You both do the "we" and "us" thing all the time. I keep having to remind myself that you're platonic."  Sharna had that blunt quality of saying out loud what everyone is thinking.  Meryl liked it.

"Just wait until you meet his girlfriend.  It will clear up the confusion." Meryl said it blithely, but Charlie looked a bit taken aback. Was she being unnecessarily bitchy? Blame it on the schedule.

They barely had time to breathe during the trip between interviews, being honored and putting in some ice training for the tour.  Meryl was late to an interview one morning because she overslept her alarm, something she had never done in her life.  They made time each day to work with their dance partners.  Meryl looked forward to that part of the day because it was the most relaxed and the least demanding.  Maks had finished the cha cha, and they were just polishing it. Soon it was time to head back to LA and begin the daily training routine.

Meryl didn't have to be to the studio until 9:00, which seemed downright luxurious. She started running in the mornings down to the beach and around the neighborhood.  Then she could have a leisurely breakfast with Linda and Ed and have plenty of time to make rehearsal.  She and Maks started working on other styles of dance in anticipation of upcoming weeks after they had trained the cha cha adequately.

"We could tape this dance tomorrow," Maks told her. "I can't remember that ever happening."

"It's one minute six seconds," Meryl replied.

"You'd be surprised."

Maks and Meryl collaborated on her costume for the first week.  "I love those pink dresses you wore for your short dance this season.  I want to reference that." Meryl was shocked that he not only knew what her short dance was, he knew what she was wearing for it.

On Thursday they realized they had nothing left to do. It was 4:00 in the afternoon, and they were supposed to stay until 5:00 that day. 

"Let's go bug Charlie and Sharna," Meryl suggested, but they were still working. They hit up Maks's brother Val and his partner Danica, but nope, still working, too.

"Let's find some beers and go up to the roof," Maks led the way.

It was a beautiful afternoon, and you could see much of downtown LA from the roof of the studio.  Meryl dutifully reapplied sunscreen.

"I love it here. How do you leave it to go back to Jersey when the show isn't on?"

"My family is there. My real life."

"When did you immigrate to the US?"

"When I was 12."

"Your English is so good."

"It's easy to learn when you want to have friends in a new school. Plus I learned it at school in Ukraine."

"Do you still have a lot of family there?"

"Most of them have come over, but, yeah there is still a lot of extended family. We're worried, of course, about what is going on."

Meryl had no idea what to say about that.

"That must be really hard." Genius.

"So what about your life?"

"My life has been skating.  I was in college part time a while back, but other than that, just skating. My family is great.  My real family and my skating family."

"How long has Charlie been with Blondie?"

"Tanith."

"Okay."

"Four years, almost five."

"I don't understand how you work together that long, and nothing has ever happened.  Unless one of you is gay, which is fine.  Charlie would be way-overcompensating if he is gay. Are you?"

"No, neither one of us is gay." This was by far her most bizarre conversation in a while.  And she'd had some doozies with Ed.

"So why has nothing ever happened." He paused and took a long drink. "Unless it has."

Meryl said nothing.

"That's what I thought."

"Okay, well, it's not what you think."

"What do I think?"

"I guess I don't know.  Yes, my feelings about Charlie are complicated.  I don't really know what his feelings are, I mean, I know he...well, loves me, but I don't know if he's ever really considered it like, romantically...seriously."

Well, that was a great response.  Very clear.

"We've never...done anything, if that's what you're wondering."

Maks laughed out loud.

"Well, that clears that up."

"We have kissed, but only under very specific circumstances." Meryl laughed with him.  Kissing circumstances? He must think she's a loon.

"I didn't think of him in a romantic way ever until he was with Tanith.  Then I convinced myself that it was one of those 'you want what you can't have' things. But Charlie and I have been pretty much inseparable in the last two years, even more than we were in the past.  We made training for the Olympics our sole focus, and I realized it was more than just sadness that he was in love with someone else."

"So you never thought about it until Blondie came along?"

"Tanith. No. Really, he's not my usual type." As the words were leaving her mouth she realized what she stepped into. And of course, he pounced.

"Oh reeeeaaaalllly. So what is your type?"

Meryl knew there was no way of answering this without completely embarrassing herself.

~~Tall and dark haired.~~

~~French, Italians and Russians~~ (He might even be offended by that one.)

~~Guys with accents.~~

"Okay, let's say Charlie is a golden retriever, I would be more likely to go for a weimaraner."

Maks laughed and shook his head.

"So what are you?"

"I'm a poodle, obviously."

"All right, princess poodle, let's go cha cha and head home." He held out his hand to help her up.

She enjoyed every minute of the first week.  Sunday rehearsal was great; she got a chance to really talk to most of her fellow cast mates.  Monday went perfectly.  They danced well, they got good comments, and the scores put them in the middle top, which is where she wanted to start.  Charlie and Sharna had the dance of the night, and she was just as excited for him.  She hoped the voters would keep them in, but at least they got another week either way.

She hugged Maks as she was leaving the after-party Monday night.  "See you in the morning!"  She couldn't wait.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Charlie: Week 1

 

Charlie had a 3:45 wake-up call scheduled and couldn't sleep.  He was looking out his hotel window on a Monday night, and Los Angeles was still very much awake as well.

 

**Meryl** March 3 11:30 Can't sleep

**Charlie** March 3 11:30 It's still noisy here

**Meryl** March 3 11:31 Really quiet here. Just keyed up.  LOVE Sharna.

**Charlie** March 3 11:32 She's perfect. Maks is hilarious.

**Meryl** March 3 11:33 I know, I can't keep up.

**Charlie** March 3 11:34 I like that he knows exactly what he's doing. It's reassuring.

**Meryl** March 3 11:35 Fish outta water?

**Charlie** March 3 11:35 So much!

**Meryl** March 3 11:36 I love it! I want to beeeeee part of their woooorld!

**Charlie** March 3 11:37 Night, Ariel.

**Meryl** March 3 11:38 Sleep, Charlie. See you in...5 hours.

 

Charlie had spent all day at the studio.  He had an early call; he and Sharna were one of the first couples to be filmed.  They had about an hour and a half to do their introductions and start dancing, and then they were kicked out for the next couple.

"Are we always going to have to wait for practice space?" He asked her.

"Oh, no, after this there will always be separate rooms for everyone; today is different because filming the intros and the first practices requires more attention than the regular practice time.  They have to make sure the stories they want get started right off."

"So, what's our story?"

"Obviously it's you and Meryl competing against each other and how it's different to dance as apposed to skating. They will probably come up with other stuff as we go.  Meryl I'm sure will have 'can she tame the bad boy of ballroom?' as a part of hers."

"Hmmmm..."

"Are you worried about that?"

They were sitting together in the lounge waiting to go in to wardrobe for the photo shoot.  Sharna told him to expect to wait for hours, sometimes the most challenging part of the show.

"No, Meryl can handle it.  We train with one of our rival teams, and the guy is always trying to razz her.  She's used to putting up with characters."

"You'll be pleasantly surprised with Maks.  A lot of that stuff is just for show. He's a professional."

"How long have you been dancing?"

"Since I was little.  I started ballroom training when I was eight.  I moved to Europe at fifteen to train and compete."

"We started training at 8 and 9, too, but our coaches live very close to where we grew up.  We always felt really lucky about that."

"I loved moving away.  I missed my family, but I felt like an adult at 15.  I felt like I was ready."

"Most of the people we train with are the same way.  Our main rivals, Tessa and Scott--Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir from Canada--they've lived away from their homes since they were like 13 and 15.  Their moms lived with them when they were young, but when I was a senior in high school, Scott--he's my age--had his own apartment.  I was playing in the orchestra and running for student council, and he was buying his own groceries."

"So you had a really normal childhood it sounds like."

"Oh, yeah.  And now we're 26 and 27 and our moms are still really involved in our career. They still go to all of our competitions. Meryl's mom still makes her lunch."

Sharna's eyebrows shot up.

"It's not as weird as it sounds.  Meryl is capable of making her own lunch, obviously." Charlie laughed trying to save himself. "Her mom just likes to make sure she's eating well.  It's been a really stressful year."  This was going to end up in the _National Enquirer_ , and Meryl was never going to speak to him again. 

They finally got into wardrobe, and Meryl and Maks came in soon after.  Charlie hugged Meryl in relief of seeing a familiar face.  Maks was professional, just like Sharna had said, and he and Meryl seemed to be getting along really well.  Maks and Sharna directed them in the photo shoot, which turned out to be really easy.  Charlie wasn't sure he loved the outfit they had him wear, but he gave up control of that long ago.

 

 

Charlie drifted off to sleep finally, only to be woken up what seemed like five minutes later. 

Nothing in his life thus far prepared him for casually encountering famous people.  In the last three weeks, he had hung out with the folks on the Today Show that he grew up watching, shook hands with Vladimir Putin and was interviewed by Stephen Colbert.  And this morning, here was Lando Calissian, Drew Carey, Winnie Cooper, DJ Tanner and former Red Wing Sean Avery.  It was surreal.  He was chatting up Drew Carey!  He wished he could send a text to his 14 year old self--keep practicing with Meryl, White.  It will pay off.

They made a quick trip back to Michigan, and then hit training really hard.  Tanith came back with him, and they were getting along better than they had in a year.  Sharna and Charlie worked very well together, and the contemporary ended up being a collaboration between them with some input from Sharna's boyfriend, who was also a dancer. Charlie taught her a lift from the Sampson and Delilah program.  He and Meryl hadn't performed it in a while, so it wasn't so weird doing it with Sharna. It helped that it was staying on the floor.  When they tried the choreo lift from Scheherazade, though, he wondered if it was too soon.  Sharna loved it.  He made a mental note to talk to Meryl about it and then promptly forgot.

The first time they saw each other's routines was at the blocking rehearsal on Sunday.  Charlie got to be a part of Meryl's cha cha at the beginning, pretending to be on the podium with her, and then Maks whisks her off.  Charlie was blown away by their dance.  Meryl flew around the floor, and Maks had not gone easy on the choreography.  When it was his and Sharna's turn, they danced it the best they had so far.  There was a buzz in the room that people were really impressed.  Meryl was sitting at a table giving him a look he couldn't read.

"Sorry about the lift, I was going to talk to you about it, and I totally blanked.  Ugh. Sorry."

"Charlie, that was amazing--you looked like a dancer, like a professional."  She came around and hugged him.  "I love that our lift is in there. And Sharna has the best back stretch, I'm so jealous."

"You are going to put my Latin to shame.  2012 all over again."

"I'm going to tell them that you really want to samba to Jennifer Lopez."

"Oh, please don't."

"No, no pares sigue ven y brinda..."

"Agh!"

Show day was hurry up and wait all day.  He was flattered that the producers thought that his dance was strong enough to close the show, but it was an agonizing day.  When it was finally their turn...they smashed it.  Sharna almost knocked him over, she was so excited.  He was thrilled with the score.  Then there was more wait, more interviews.  He and Sharna were being treated like the front-runners.  Meryl didn't seem to care that she was three points behind him--Charlie thought she had been low-balled.  She also didn't seem to care that Maks had his hands all over her. That was weird.  Charlie had his arm around Sharna, but Maks kept picking Meryl up and holding her around her waist...and higher.  But really, if she's okay with it, and she certainly seemed to be, why should he even care? He focused more closely on the question the interviewer was asking him and gave the most articulate answer he could about the difference between ice dancing and ballroom dancing.  When the reporter moved on, he leaned in to Sharna and whispered in her ear,

"We are going to win this whole thing."

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Week 2:  Meryl

 

Meryl walked into the lounge Tuesday morning and there was Charlie. 

"Hey, Merle!" They side-hugged.  Is that what they were now? Side-huggers?

Charlie was thoroughly examining the craft services table. 

"I don't understand how people lose weight on this show," he said.

"I know. The scope of the food is breathtaking."

"Are you going to eat anything? He asked her.

"Linda made berries and quinoa and oats this morning.  It was very filling. They're vegans."

"Of course they are," Charlie laughed.

"She leaves a plate for me every night--all sorts of things."

"Cheryl would approve."

"No doubt.  I'm really craving a cheeseburger, though."

Maks walked in with his keys in his hand and sunglasses still on.

"MehRULL," she loved how he said her name. He walked over and put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm going to go stretch and wait for Sharna," Charlie said on the way out the door.

"Come find us later," Meryl called after him.

"Will do."

"Are you going to eat?" Maks picked up a banana.

"No, I've had breakfast.  I'm ready to get started."

"I'm sure you are.  Okay, let's go."

They reconvened in their practice room.

"I want to get a mat before we start working on these lifts," he told her.

"That's really not necessary.  I guarantee I have fallen more than anyone you've ever met in your life.  I know how to fall."

"Meryl, look at me and look at you. I'm going to be able to chuck you across the room.  It would be safer to start with a mat.  I've never practiced a lift like we're going to do without one."

"Okay, let's just try, and then if we need a mat, we'll get a mat."

"There's a flaw in your logic."

"Please, let's just try."

Maks was amazed at how fearless she was.  She did fall, and she sprang right back up. 

"It's much scarier on ice.  You can really hurt yourself there."

In an hour they had nailed down five lifts they could use.

"I'll edit them--we won't use all five, but we're on the right track.  Wardrobe wants us to come up there and get our shoes so we can practice in them.  We're going to go ahead and nail down the look today."

An hour later they were back in the rehearsal space in their Chuck Taylor high-tops. 

"So we're Minnie and Mickey, but Minnie forgot to put on a top."

"Don't think about it like that," he laughed.  "We won't have ears."

She smacked him in the arm.

"Seriously, Meryl, do you know how many women could get away with just wearing a skirt and a bra on this show?"

"Well, I don't think I ought to be the first to try."

"You are far from the first.  Trust me, you will look amazing."

By the end of the day, they had worked out the majority of the routine, and Maks had plenty of ideas for blocking.

"This is unreal," he took a long drink of water.

They dutifully practiced throughout the week, but felt very little pressure as the dance was ready to go.  They filmed a segment of Maks giving Charlie "bad boy" lessons.  When Maks pushed Sharna away, Meryl was shocked at how easily he transitioned from her easy-going sidekick to aggressive dancer.  It was innately sexual, and Meryl left the room because she was blushing. Yeah, do that, Charlie.

They took a lunch break that day at the studio, and brought their food back to their rehearsal room.

"Have you ever read Jane Eyre?" She asked him.

"Yes, in school."

"I read something online that compared us to Jane and Mr. Rochester."

"That's pretty highbrow analysis for this show."

"You would be surprised at the level of thought people put into these things."

"I guess so.  Well, I don't have a crazy wife hidden away."

"That's a relief."

"But if I remember the book correctly, she sets the agenda from start to finish, so that fits."

"Am I setting the agenda?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

"I didn't pick the sparkly bra."

"Maybe not, but you love it."

"You think you have me figured out?" She smiled at him.  Ooooh, look at flirty Meryl flirt.

"I think I haven't even started." Boom. She should probably leave this to the professional.

A group of Maks and Val's east coast friends flew in to celebrate Val's birthday.  Maks asked her to tag along with them, which Meryl couldn't pass up.  Meryl liked them instantly, and they went out of their way to make her feel a part of the group.  Separately, they would pull her aside and tell her how much Maks liked working with her and how happy he seemed.

"He's actually fun during the season.  You have no idea how different that is."

Maks called her on Saturday morning.  They were taking the day off, and Meryl had walked down to the beach.

"We're going to Nobu for lunch, do you like sushi?"

"Of course."

"Well, I didn't know about sushi and Michigan...'

"I've been to Japan 25 times."

"Oh, yeah. Well, it's in Malibu, so I'll pick you up."

They sat on the patio and drank cocktails and looked out at the ocean.

"We'll be indoors the next two days straight, so enjoy this."

"I've been indoors since June."

"Oh, poor little skater girl."

Meryl smacked him again. 

"Poor you when we head out on tour in two weeks.  Sorry about that, by the way."

"Hey, I like a change of scenery, and anything that gets me out of Sunday blocking, I'm all for."

"Well let's survive on the show until then."

"Okay."

"It's that simple?"

"With you, it is."

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

Charlie: Week 2

 

**Ten Things Charlie White Does Not Like About Week Two**

 

 

1.  Tannith left.

2.  Fog machines.  These should be the territory of people who need to hide footwork, not people who want to show off footwork.

3.  The term "bad boy."  Is there anyone on earth who has ever used this term and as subsequently been taken seriously about anything?

4.  Forced rivalries. Does anyone seriously think that two women in their late thirties still give a rat's ass about some guy they both liked when they were twelve?

5.  Waiting. For. Everything. Jaysus.

6.  Paparazzi.  No one really wants to see you get out of your car.  Do you want to live in a world where people actually do?  Oh, and be sure and walk around with your new buddies in places where there are tons of cameras.  Make sure you get a table that can be shot from all angles. Everyone on the planet is dying to know where you had lunch and what you had to drink.  If you are in a place too classy to let the paps in, make sure you Instagram the hell out of your afternoon.  It didn't really happen if you don't.

7.  Folksy anecdotes about fake grandparents.  Is it that interesting to live in a city for less than a month and have multiple adorable stories about these insufferable sounding people and their quirky habits?

8.  People who need to touch people all the time. When you participate in particular sports, there is a certain degree of hugging and kissing.  There is a place called the kiss and cry, after all.  Hugging after a great athletic effort is appropriate and expected.  Kissing is helpful in expressing things you might not have words for.  Now, you don't go around kissing everyone all the time.  You reserve it for very specific and ideally private circumstances. Do you walk in your place of work and hug and kiss the security guard? Do you put your arms around the tech guy from behind and nuzzle around his neck and whisper to him how great he is?  And hey, the tech guy might be truly fantastic, but there are appropriate ways to express this. Also, does any ambulatory adult need to be picked up...ever?  Okay, maybe.  Maybe, let's say, your coach, or some trusted adviser wants to help you express feelings you're not entirely comfortable with.  So he or she recommends you pick someone up in your arms and spin her around and look into her eyes.  But you don't do it in the break room! Or in the parking lot. Or in between interviews.  Adults who are Olympic caliber athletes can walk from point A to point B without being picked up.  Even if you're wearing flip-flops and having to go over rope lines.  If the Olympian without feet can walk on her own, so can you.

9.  The wardrobe department and people they enable.  Costumes are very important in dance and other performance type artistic expression heavy athletics. Over the years, how many costumes have you snarked on for their over-the-top qualities and gratuitous showing of skin?  Really, Sue Ellen Mischke? Is a bra now a top?

10\. Not winning. A three-way tie for first is not a win.

 


	5. Chapter 5

Meryl:  Week 3

 

Meryl and Maks sat back to back in their rehearsal space late Tuesday morning.  Somehow, they had started sitting like this to talk, and it was becoming a habit.  They sat beside the mirror, so they could see the other's face, but could still rest against each other.  Maks was continually astounded at how strong she was.  He had to outweigh her by--100 pounds?--but it was like leaning against a rock.  She had her hair pulled up on top of her head and was resting it on his shoulder.

"It's not that I don't love the song," he said.

"I know."

"It's just I'm trying to make it fit your story, and we have to have a solid narrative worked out before they come in here and start interviewing us about it."

"What's your concern?"

"The lyrics."  He pulled up a site on his phone. "'My head's under water, but I'm breathing fine, you're crazy and I'm out of my mind'...I'm trying to interpret that with your seventeen year emphasis _platonic_ partnership.  It's romance, it's sexual romance, to me when I read these lyrics."

"Charlie and Meryl:  the untold, absolutely true, romantic story of betrayal and intrigue expressed through extended on-ice hugs."

"Now, we're getting somewhere. You could spill all of this during the package.  I would like to see Blondie's TANITH's reaction."

"Yeah, we're not doing that. Those specific lyrics--under water, crazy, out of my mind, are exactly what we, what Charlie and I, have felt, though, in the last year.  You know me now, but if you had met me a few months ago, you would probably run for the hills. Crazy is a mild term for what I felt."

The two leaned back into each other and started rising up, pushing against each other's backs until they were about three quarters standing.  Then they eased back into sitting down.

"Pushing ourselves, uncertainty and self doubt, that's my whole last year." She rested her head again and looked at him in the mirror.

"I can't see that. I believe you, but it's hard for me to imagine. You come in here this morning, I throw the whole foxtrot technique at you, and in an hour, I could piece together a dance that's ready to be performed.  I talked to Derek about working with you, because I still can't believe that I have you and that this experience is for real, and he says you and Charlie did the same for him, that he gave you a suggestion, and then he looks up and you're dancing across the floor."

Meryl looked at him in the mirror.

"What?"

"You're so dear."

"This is what I see.  And I can understand what pressure it must be training for the Olympics, but I've seen your record.  You and Charlie have won everything for years."

"Two years, but we lost on the regular before that."

"And by lost, you mean you came in second."

"Yes, but most of the wins and the losses were soooooooo close. When we skate, skated, against our rivals, if we put a foot wrong we would lose.  Last year at a competition, Charlie had a tiny stumble on an element in the short dance, and we were in second. They had kind of a catastrophe in their free dance, so we ended up winning, but we could have lost so easily. And it sometimes came down to the makeup of the judging panel, like if there was a Canadian judge and not an American, we would lose.  And vice-verse, which makes you really question if your wins are legitimate.  Oh, and there are hate sites devoted to how terrible we are and how we only win because of politics.  And all of this is always in your head when you're not actually skating.  That's one thing.  When Charlie and I are on the ice, it all goes away."

"Your rivals are the Canadians?"

"Yes, and there are long, boring stories about how that has been totally stressful, too."

"Because you share a coach?"

"Yeah, and a rink.  And we used to be good friends.  When Charlie and I started skating there, we were together all the time.  But it got to be too much when we were always competing for the top two spots.  It's been very uncomfortable. And the thing is, they were going through exactly what we were and yet, we couldn't be there for each other any more. Charlie is amazing with people, so he could just carry on like everything was fine at the rink, but I couldn't deal with it.  Especially with Tessa, I just avoided her, and that made her think I hated her I guess--ack girl drama, why am I telling you this?"

"Because I want to understand what it was like."

"Well you asked for it.  They filmed a reality show for Canadian TV this fall, and it aired right before the Olympics, and Tessa would go on about how I ignored her.  And there was all of this footage with me with my nose in the air like I am the bitch ice queen. And then after the Olympics, Tessa and Scott said in interviews how _Charlie_ was their friend and would always be their friend.  Subtle, right?"

He linked his arm through hers and squeezed it close to him.

"I would suggest we foxtrot a dance dedicated to the idea that reality shows are terrible, but it still doesn't fit the song.  I'm still stuck on romance with this."

She reached up and patted his shoulder.

"Well, you know 'curves and edges' are skating terms."

He laughed. 

"We could make it all about skating, Meryl."

"No.  It should be about something that saves me.  Like everything we've gone through, and where we've started, and the whole process of getting here, is leading to this point. Romance is a metaphor."

"Okay."

"We can tie it together with Charlie and I starting as children compared to our current adult selves. Which, at least in my case, is a big, fucking mess, but we can downplay that."

"Yeah, I don't see that.  I don't see you as any kind of  mess."

He flipped around on his hip and pulled them both up.

"You show your journey," he walked over to the music player by the wall. "And I will show what I see when I look at you."

 


	6. Chapter 6

Charlie:  Week 3

 

Charlie White was happy. (Happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy.)

Tanith was back in town to do commentary for Worlds at Universal Sports.  His Michigan Wolverines were in the Sweet 16. His friend Evan Bates was half a point out of third place at Worlds with his partner Madison Chock.  The Shibs were just behind them. His dad was actually going to watch him perform live.  And he and Sharna had been assigned jive, which was something for him to throw himself into.  He felt completely incompetent at the beginning of the week, and knew he would have to devote hours and hours into this dance.  That was time he did not have to dwell on things that were not making him happy.

All day Tuesday Sharna beat the crap out of him trying to drill in the jive technique.  He could hardly walk that evening and after picking Tanith up at the airport, convinced her to settle for room service.  That ended up working out just fine anyway.  She was full of Michigan and Arctic Edge news, and Charlie tried to pay attention.

"Tessa and Scott packed up everything.  They are gone."

"Yeah, I got a text from Scott earlier.  They're heading to Japan tomorrow for that tour."

"Reaaaaallllly--Scott texted you?  He hardly spoke to me at the rink, and I just caught a glimpse of Tessa."

"Did you speak to _him_?"

"No."

"Well, there you go.  Were Maia and Alex ready for Worlds?"

"Of course. So, you really don't want to go out?"

"I really don't."

"How many times have you ordered room service?"

"I don't go out when you're not here.  But not that often.  The food at the studio is ridiculous.  I've been eating all my meals there for the most part."

"Tomorrow we're going to go some place nice.  I'll get recommendations from the guys at work."

"Okay, I promise."

 

The next morning, he and Meryl were the first ones there for rehearsal.  He hadn't had a real conversation with her for days.

"So what year did you pick?" He asked her.

"I went for the 17 year journey, but focusing on the last year.  What are you doing?"

"The whole last quad.  I talked about starting to work for gold about five minutes after we got of the podium in Vancouver."

"Nice!  And you've got a thematically appropriate song.  I might have shot myself in the foot there."

"How so--you have John Legend?"

"Yeah, we spent the better part of yesterday trying to 'craft our narrative.' I should have chosen _Celebration_ by Kool and the Gang."

"Can you foxtrot to that?"

"I think Maks could foxtrot to anything."

"Tanith said that Tessa and Scott packed up and moved out."

"Wow.  I wonder when we'll see them again."

"It could be a really long time."

"That's crazy.  I"ll see you at lunch?"

"Yeah, come find me."

 

Charlie put in another tough day, but by the end he and Sharna could tell that it was eventually going to be great. He didn't see Meryl all day, and her rental car was still in the lot when he rushed out to get back to the hotel and shower before it was time to go with Tanith. They chose a quiet Thai place that she had been recommended.  Charlie ordered a beer and sat back, exhausted again. Tanith had her iPad out.

"Meryl made the gossip again." She turned it around to show him Meryl and Maks at an outside restaurant table. "Is this from today?"

Charlie noticed Meryl was wearing the same clothes as she was that morning.

"I have no idea."

"What's the scoop on them? Meryl is being frustratingly tight-lipped about it."

"I don't know. I don't see them much."

"What does Sharna say?"

"We're too busy on this dance to talk about other couples.  I ate lunch with Drew and James today; Drew has a massive bruise on his arm.  That's the extent of my _Dancing with the Stars_ gossip."

"Well, you have to have seen them at the taping.  He's all over her."

"They tell us to relate to our partners on camera."

"So when the camera are off, they aren't like that?"

"Tanith, I have no idea.  I'm sorry I'm not up on the news.  You should probably talk to Jacqui and Cheryl because if something is up, they probably know about it."

"Sorry."

Charlie sighed.

"No, I'm sorry. Let's talk about Worlds.  The Pairs final starts soon, yeah?"

 

Charlie continued to knock himself out all week.  Blocking rehearsal was insane because their dance was so vast in terms of scope, and he was dancing with about ten different people throughout.  Because it was by far the most challenging to film, he and Sharna got to do theirs first, and then he could just sit back and watch the rest of rehearsal. The quality of dance was so much higher this week than it had been, he was surprised and a little bit worried but tremendously impressed.  Meryl was wearing a long rehearsal skirt and had her hair down. She sat by him to watch the numbers; she and Maks were waiting to hear about a musician for their dance, so they were going last.  Charlie was grateful that they could sit next to each other and not talk the whole time but be completely comfortable. Maks eventually came and swept her up, though.

Charlie thought he was prepared for anything with their performance, but he was blown away by what he saw.  It was so beautiful, beyond words, really.  Was this her tribute to them? He wondered how much was her and how much was Maks.  She ran over to him as soon as they were released.

"Yeah, you definitely should have gone with Kool and the Gang." He laughed.

"Right?"

"No, it was gorgeous, Meryl, I can't wait to see it again."

"Aw, thanks. Honestly I hope we're back to back because I'm trying to bring out the beauty in our...journey--sorry so cheesy--and yours is just JOY."

"Yeah, I hope they do that."

Maks walked over and draped himself on her.  Really?

"I'm meeting Tanith to go watch the Michigan game, Do you guys want to come?"

"Yes!" Meryl squeeled.  "Come with us, Maks?!"

"Of course, do you want me to see if Sharna and Paul want to tag along?"

Absolutely, the more the merrier.  And Tanith could witness the Meryl and Maks dynamic up close.  What a happy bunch. Happy, happy, happy happy.

 


	7. Chapter 7

Meryl:  Week 4

 

Never be too happy or too comfortable because change is always coming.  Meryl said goodbye to her little room and vegan meals in Malibu and headed for the airport way too early on Tuesday morning for Florida and _The Stars on Ice_ tour.

Having Val was a relief.  He wasn't Maks, but no one was, and he had vision and direction for their Argentine Tango from start to finish.  That was Maks-like.  Otherwise, he had much more in common with the ballroom specialists she worked with in their early days:  brusque, demanding and not overly complimentary.  Because she was seeing him in bewteen ice rehearsals, she appreciated this approach.  There was no time for nonsense. 

"Rotate! To here.  Again."

"You're piking, Meryl, straighten your core."

"Pivot, step, turn, step, NO! And one and two and THREE.  Here.  Again."

"You have to stop here, and you have to stand strong in your core or you flop over like that. Straighten!"

She loved the choreography.  It was so much more intricate than the tangos she had worked on in preparation for programs over the years, even the Argentine tango free dance she and Charlie won their first World Championship with. Val's go-to expression was annoyance.  He was annoyed with her, annoyed with the schedule, annoyed with the practice facility, and somehow it worked beautifully with her learning process of this dance.  By Saturday he was packing to go back to LA for Sunday's blocking rehearsal he'd have to do solo, and she was taking an impromptu nap with Charlie on the locker room floor of the arena.

Neither had meant to really fall asleep, and it's not like the tile floor was that conducive, but both had hit a wall.  Meryl had wrapped up in her jacket while she was talking to Charlie about learning the dances on the run that week, and the next thing she knew Ashley Wagner was gently patting her shoulder and it was thirty minutes to show time.

"Hey, sweetie, it's time to get up."

  
For a minute Meryl thought she was back at home at late for 8th grade.

"You're going to have to wake up Charlie, he's like a rock."

Meryl strongly shook him.

"Charlie, we've got to get ready; it's seven."

"What the hell?"

"I know, I slept through first call, too."

They quickly got themselves together for their show. They had five numbers each, had MC responsibilities and then had a meet and greet after.  Meryl slammed some tea and ran a few laps and was pretty much ready to go.  She always dreaded the meet and greets, and then always ended up having a great time.  She had just enough social anxiety, though, to wish she could just leave after the show.

After it all, Meryl was on the bus to Orlando talking to Ashley and Alissa Czisny. Alissa and Meryl had been good friends for years when Alissa was traveling regularly with them. Injury had taken her out of competition for the last two seasons, and Meryl had missed her. The three women were the only ones on the bus seemingly awake.  They had commandeered the last three seats and had the lights on.

"So, you have to tell us about these Chmerkovskiys." Ashley was teaching Meryl to make a bracelet on a rainbow loom.

"So under here, like this?"

"Yeah and then put the hook here and pull through. Good, just like that. I'm sad I didn't get to meet Val."

"I talked to him a little in line for coffee," Alissa said. "He's adorable."

"I'm sorry we didn't all get to hang out.  He is very focused.  Next week on the east coast, Maks will be with us, and he will insist on meeting everyone.  He's hilarious."

"So...?" Ashley was digging.

"So...what?" Meryl replied coyly.

"So is it all for the show or is there something going on with y'all?"

"No, there's nothing going on.  I like him a whole lot.  He's nothing like I expected.  We have had so much fun just hanging out. We dance for an hour and then talk for two hours.  It's been almost like therapy.  I should probably pay him.  This week is the first time I've been at all stressed about the dance or performing live.  Maks and I just hang out all week, and at the end we get to show off, and hey, it's on live TV. This does not look right."

"No, it's good, keep going. Does he have a girlfriend?"

"No, he was dating Kate Upton..."

"Seriously?"

"I know, right? They broke up a few months ago. So I don't think I'm his type, but he's the first, like non-skating friend, completely outside this world friend, that I've had in a long time."

"But is he your type?"Alissa said with a smile.

"Obviously."

"Y'all will be together by the time the show ends.  I'm putting my bet in now." Ashley leaned over to correct a misstep in Meryl's bracelet.

"I don't know." Alissa replied. "What would you do if he tried to start something with you?"

"Slap his face."

"Before or after you made out with him?" Meryl loved Ashley's bluntness and her dry sense of humor.

"Probably after."

"So Charlie seems to be sailing through."

"Yeah, I couldn't do it without him. Just to know he's right there, and when we have long rehearsals, having someone who thinks just like I do. I can't imagine doing it alone although all the rest of them are.  I'm just glad he's there."

"And his partner?"

"Sharna. She's perfect for him.  She's like a less intense Marina."

"That's still scary," Alissa laughed.

"Marina was always like his mother bear champion, though.  She pushed because she loved. Sharna has that whole vibe with him, too. She's so protective.  It's really cute."

"And there it is!" Ashley pulled the completed bracelet from the loom.

"Beautiful!  We should make them for the whole cast, black and silver."

"Yes, let's do headbands and key chains, too."

"Why not. It's very stress relieving."

"When we watch the show next week, I expect to see Maks with one on his wrist."

"Oh, absolutely."

After the Orlando show and meet and greet, Meryl and Charlie got to fly back to LA in a private charter.  They arrived at 1:30 A.M. and had to be at the studio at 7:30. Meryl took a three hour nap and then arrived as fresh as possible for a very long day. Her costume was more like a skating dress than any of the others she had worn, but it fit perfectly. The costume department handed her fishnets and new black shoes for her to wear all day and break in.  She finally ran into Maks on her way to hair and makeup, and he engulfed her in a hug as if they hadn't seen each other in a year.

"I can't handle this."

"I know.  Val was amazing, though. You should be very proud."

"He said he was a total asshole to you. I think he's hiding."

"Oh, come on.  He was great.  He taught me the whole thing in like twenty minute increments in three days. It was crazy.  We're ready to go, though."

Dress rehearsal ended with a standing ovation from cast and crew.  Val took her in his arms and whispered how proud he was, and asked if she forgave him. Maks ran in took her from Val.

"I'm so jealous. I hate you both," he said and wrapped his arms around her.

"Wait until we manage to do it on the live show, then you can punch me." Val said to his brother.

Charlie also pulled her aside.

"Meryl, that was insane.  Can you imagine dancing like that when we were cramming Argentine tango that summer? I cannot believe you learned that in the time we had. Paul and Cheryl are here tonight?"

"Yeah, I haven't been able to talk to them, but they'll be here."

"I plan to go sleep for twelve hours after this, but let's all go get something to eat after the show before we crash."

"Okay.  I can't get over your hair."

"Yeah, I have nothing I want to say about it."

"You look great in the rumba.  Peta must have been dying over your lines."

"All those ballet teachers who thought I was hopeless can suck it."

"Right?"

The show took a weird turn with Julianne Hough's slam on Maks and Charlie being low-balled.  Meryl voted for the first time since ever.  All nine votes for Charlie.

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

Charlie: Week 4

 

Charlie genuinely had no opinion as to whom he would like to be paired up with for the week and was neither surprised nor unsurprised that it was Peta. She was very sweet, but Charlie liked Sharna's no nonsense approach better.  The rumba choreography was fine, though, and he felt like he had some nice moments in there where he could show off all those dreaded hours in the ballet studio.  Peta talked nonstop about James, so Charlie felt like there was really three of them at practice. He started teasing her by constantly bringing up James himself, but she didn't realize it was a joke.  They finished the dance quickly, so that was great.  It was a total reversal for him and Meryl with Charlie being the one finished, and Meryl being the one rehearsing every spare second.  As much as he loved Sharna, this was awfully relaxing.

On Saturday, Charlie, Peta, Meryl and Val had a quick lunch after practice before Meryl and Charlie had to be at the arena for that night's show.  The vibe between Val and Peta was very tense. As much as Maks was...a bit much, in Charlie's opinion, that foursome with Sharna was a lot more fun.

"Why don't you have him in Cuban heels?" Val asked Peta.

"Because it's a lyrical rumba. His lines look better with a softer shoe."

"Of all people, he could handle Latin shoes.  He's used to wearing skating boots. Those are the same shoes Sharna had him in for tango."

"They're broken in, and he can really move in them."

"I like the shoes we're using," Charlie tried to stand up for her against Val who was using an aggressive tone rather obnoxiously, Charlie thought.

"When he gets called out for lack of hip-action, remember this conversation."

"Yes, sir," Peta said with a tiny sneer.

Charlie and Meryl exchanged uncomfortable looks.  They were able to talk later for a minute  in the locker room but both fell asleep about immediately.  The next time they had a chance to talk was during intermission during the ice show.  They were sitting against a wall in the locker room, side by side, both on their phones.

"What's Val's deal with Peta?" Charlie asked her.

"No idea.  Maks and Peta dated for a while, but I don't think there was much drama."

"There is always drama."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Oh my god, did you see the picture Tanith just tweeted?"

Charlie clicked on the screen.  It was a picture of Tanith and Scottish ice dancer John Kerr.  Behind them was an older man yawning like he could hardly stay awake. At their ice show. Meryl was on the floor laughing.  They had been urged to use all their social media contacts to promote the show.   Charlie didn't love having to tweet commercials all the time, but it was the price of having sponsors. _The Stars on Ice_ promoters were going to love this one.

"Glad the crowd is really getting into it.  And has an average age of 85," Meryl was still laughing.

Charlie tweeted back to his girlfriend to call her attention to that helpful photo-bomb. Good lord.

"Val is kind of an asshole."

"Charlie!" Meryl smacked him, "Why would you say that?"

"He barks at you in rehearsal, and the whole shoes thing at lunch."

"He wants us both to do the best we can.  He feels like the six of us are like a team."

"Which six?"

"You and Sharna, Maks and I, Val and Danica."

"Do you feel that way? By that logic, Peta is part of the team. And James. And Cheryl. And Drew. And Whitney and Cody, and that leads us back to Sharna."

"No, Charlie.  Never mind."

"I mean, I don't mind, it just seems a little weird."

"It doesn't seem that weird to me, but I've hung out more with Val and Danica.  Anyway, it will be back to the old four next week."

Thank goodness.  He never thought he would be relieved at Maks's return.

He heard the girls on the bus Saturday night gushing about Maks, and he did everything he could to go back to sleep.

The charter plane was very nice on Sunday night.  Charlie and Meryl slept the whole way back.

Charlie felt good about his dance but ridiculous about his hair.  He had given Peta carte blanche but was regretting it a bit. Sharna didn't love it, so hopefully it would be a one show thing.  He and Peta were shocked to hear the judges' comments, especially those of Carrie Ann and Len. And then to get a 7 from Carrie Ann was another blow. Peta was in tears; Sharna was furious, and she hadn't even danced yet.  Charlie did his best to calm her down and comfort Peta.  His scores put him squarely in the middle of the pack and for the first time, he was worried about elimination.  After the show, Val, to his credit, did not say anything about shoes.

"Man," Val pulled him into a full body hug. "Those scores were too low, that was a beautiful rumba." So now Chmerkovskiys were draping themselves on him?  "Charlie, I told Meryl, that you and Sharna are part of our team. That's like family to me, and any time you need anything, you just ask me.  Any time you want to go over technique or if you have any questions, you just let me know."

Charlie thought maybe he was about to be kissed on both cheeks and initiated into the mob.  But his words and Meryl's amazing Argentine Tango had changed his opinion about Val, at least a bit.

"Val, you and Meryl tonight...I have never seen her dance like that.  You did such a good job."

He got another hug for that.

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

~~Meryl~~ Maks: Week 5

"Hi."

"Hello."

"I missed you."

"I missed you more."

Maks was standing with her in his arms in a dance studio in New Jersey filming a 75% staged "reunion" with Meryl.  They had been on different flights, and he hadn't seen her that day yet, but they had been pretty much inseparable the day before. The camera was rolling and they were still hugging. He felt her breath on his chest and knew they should let go, but she was holding him really tight and it was the best he had felt in quite a while.

He couldn't figure her out.  His cynical side suspected she was just playing the game. She had figured out that a showmance gets more votes and she was working it hard.  She was a gold medalist, after all.  She knew how to win.  But if it was an act, she was really good at keeping it up when there were no cameras.  In fact, she was the same whether or not they were around.  Oh, she was very good at carefully choosing words in interviews, but when they were practicing or just talking, there weren't separate personas on camera and sans camera. 

She seemed to actually like him. He was baffled. He promptly fucked it up.

"So, who're you going to be?" she asked him.  Staged.  They had planned everything yesterday and had costumes being sewn back in LA. But of course, they had to get this bit on camera. Easy sailing, right?

"I do not look like Mowgli."

"No, you don't."

"You look more like Mowgli." 

Over his long career of being a dancer and sometimes, admittedly, an asshole, there were certain words he would love to get back.  Although he hadn't realized it quite yet, these would be up there.

"Hey!"

I've said something wrong.  Walk it back.

"He was an eleven year old boy."

"I know!"  She put her arms out and he got it. Fuck. He knew she was self-conscious about her lack of curves.  Walk it back, WALK IT BACK!

He said something unintelligible about Mowgli on steroids. GOD.

She laughed it off.  They started to samba.  He felt like crawling in a hole.  They filmed a segment in another part of the studio with NeNe and Tony, who were on the east coast for a week because NeNe had to work in New York.  Meryl snuggled up against him.  She didn't seem mad, but the cameras were still on.

They went to another part of the studio where ballroom students were dancing and filmed yet another segment.  Still, smiles all around.  They were going to his parents' house for dinner, about a ten minute drive from the studio. He wanted to say something, but had no idea how to start.

"I'm sorry."  Simple and to the point.

"About what?"

"Saying you looked like Mowgli, the eleven year old boy thing.  You don't look like a boy.  You're gorgeous." He reached over and took her hand.

She squeezed it.

"Aw, Maks.  Don't worry about it. It was all just a joke.  It would be hilarious, though, if I were Mowgli.  You could be Baloo in a grass tutu.  I would actually love to be Mowgli on Disney princess week."

"They would never allow that.  I wouldn't either.  You should be some kind of princess."

"I'm happy to be the Indian village girl.  I got to be the foxtrot princess."

His parents' house was completely filled with people, and his mother had made a huge dinner.  His mom had met Meryl in LA a few weeks back and adored her.  This seemed to be the consistent opinion of all of his friends and family, including Val, who was back in LA with Danica and who was sorely missed.

"You've never been better than you are when she's around.  What ever you have to do; don't mess it up!" Sometimes this was said with an accompanying smack to the side of his head.

She ate a generous plate of food--nothing could have been more impressive in his mother's eyes--and ate a whole piece of honey tart for dessert.  The conversation was half in Russian, half in English, with a smattering of Ukrainian here and there, and she got along like she had been one of them for years.   He reluctantly drove her to the hotel where the Stars on Ice cast was staying, and they sat in the parking circle (Wednesday night; thankfully not busy) and talked for another ten minutes.  He wanted to kiss her, but he wouldn't allow himself.  She patted his hand and walked through the revolving door.

When he got home and reached into his dance bag for his iPad, he found a copy of _The Jungle Book_ that she must have slipped in there.  The was a bookmark in the chapter _Mowgli's Brothers_.  He settled in his bed to read.

 

The rest of the week was ridiculous.  Meryl and Charlie had media all day Thursday and a show that night, which Maks and Sharna got to attend and had front row seats.  Maks brought his mom, who wanted to see Meryl skate in person.  They had some media to do at the arena before the show, a quick interview for _Good Morning America_ , and then Meryl and Charlie had to do light cues on the ice.  The show was amazing; Meryl and Charlie were the biggest stars and got the most applause, but the whole cast was wonderful. Meryl and Charlie's program to Rachmaninoff was magical, and he stored it away for later. They decided to drive together  to Reading, Pennsylvania, the next stop on the tour, instead of dropping off Meryl and Charlie on the tour bus after their meet and greet.  The four of them laughed the whole two and a half hour trip.

Charlie and Meryl had a unique relationship.  They spoke in shorthand to each other and frequently finished each other's sentences. They were like only a few married couples he had met (they never fought) and like NO dance partners he knew.  Sharna must have been thinking the same thing.

"So, do you guys evah disagree?" She asked in her bright Aussie accent.

"Yeah, of course." Charlie said.

"We do." Meryl's response was made in a qualified tone.

"What? What do you fight about?" Maks jumped in.

"We don't really fight." Charlie said.  "We sometimes have disagreements.  Meryl often wants to practice ten minutes longer than I feel is necessary."

"Most of the time he obliges me."

"So no major fights, evah?" Sharna sounded incredulous.

Meryl and Charlie looked at each other.

"We had one big...well, not fight exactly."

"We had one difficult time between us," Meryl helped him out.  "Before the last Olympics, 2010 Olympics, we had a big disagreement over music for the free dance.  Charlie and Marina won.  And there were other issues."

"I picked the worst possible time to start dating our biggest competitor." Charlie laughed.

"You competed against Tanith?" Sharna was incredulous.

"For years." Meryl said dryly.  "She and her partner, Ben, were older and more established, so they beat us consistently, but we were inching closer to them.  We were about to pounce."

"I pounced." Charlie laughed some more.

Meryl rolled her eyes and laughed with him.

"But for the record," Charlie added, "We did beat them two out of two that season."

"And she stayed with you?" Sharna said. "True love!"

Meryl winced in the front seat the tiniest bit, but Maks saw. He reached over and brushed her knee with one knuckle.  She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and smiled.

They got a few hours of sleep that night and met up extremely early in a dance studio the show had rented for them in Reading.  They did an interview with the local ABC station and practiced for a few hours, sharing a space with Charlie and Sharna. Maks felt better about his ridiculous comedy samba.  At least he didn't have to choreograph a Mary Poppins jazz with hand props.

They made two more stops on this leg of the tour:  Rhode Island and then Long Island, practicing in whatever space they could find along the way.  After the Long Island show, where they met up with Taylor Swift (!), they all boarded a charter flight back to LA.  It could be worse.  Charlie and Sharna fell asleep immediately, each stretching out over two seats, but he and Meryl sat next to each other and chatted a while.

"Thank you for the book.  I've read three chapters."

"You're welcome.  My dad used to read it to me when I was in the bathtub." She saw his face and laughed. "I was very, very little, of course."

"My mother read to me every night, too."

"I love the Mowgli stories, but my favorite is _Rikki Tikki Tavi_."

"The mongoose."

"Yes, I love Darzee and the song he sing's in Rikki's honor."

Maks got out the book and flipped through. He found the right page and read aloud:

 

"Singer and tailor am I-- Doubled the joys that I know--

Proud of my lilt to the sky, Proud of the house that I sew--

Over and under, so weave I my music--

so weave I the house that I sew.

 

Sing to your fledglings again,

Mother, oh lift up your head!

Evil that plagued us is slain,

Death in the garden lies dead."

 

Her head was resting on his shoulder, and she had fallen asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Charlie:  Week 5

 

Goddamn motherfucking cane.

It was a disappointing end to a frustrating, confusing, amazing week.

Getting to do media with Meryl in new York City most of the day Wednesday reminded him so much of the time right after they had won--how long had it been? It seemed simultaneously like years and just a few days ago.  But riding around in a car together in NYC catching up on sponsor duties was such a nice throwback.  She took a better picture of him with her phone than anyone had in five weeks of reality TV. Yeah, _that's_ what I look like. Soon enough, though, it was back to studio space at the ice arena and rehearsal.

It was very distracting sharing the floor with Meryl and Maks.  Charlie's dance was so complicated, and he _had_ to tune them out, but it was hard.  He loved Meryl's whimsical side.  He got to see it sometimes when they would travel to competitions, or sometimes in show rehearsals that weren't so pressed as the current tour, but she didn't let it out much in training, or at least she hadn't in the last two seasons.  Maks got it all the time. She worked hard to learn her dance, but it was all so much lighter.  They would stop often to laugh and hug.  At one point, they decided to take a break from samba, and were dancing part of their week one cha cha, except she was trying to kick him in the nose before he could grab her foot. This was apparently the most hilarious game ever. He just had to pretend he couldn't see or hear anything so he could hold onto the stupid cane or umbrella or whatever he was supposed to have at the moment.

It would be easier if he hated Maks, but that was impossible.  Maks was truly a great guy, at least when Charlie was around.  He was funny and very considerate.  Riding to Pennsylvania with the three of them was so much more pleasant than the tour bus. 

The next morning he asked Sharna if they could find their own space to rehearse in.

"Yeah, it's so distracting with another couple in the room." She told him.

"And our stuff is so intricate, I fell like we need a spot just for us."

"Don't feel bad; there is nothing more irritating than watching others' work process.  I just want to go over and tell them to stop whatever they're doing, and do it the right way. It's that way for everyone. I think that's what made the switch so frustrating."

"It was, although Peta and I were fine, but listening to Val and Meryl was about to make me tear my hair out."

"Yeah, what was that like?"

"He acted like he was annoyed all the time and she was awful. I hardly heard her voice."

"But look at what they were able to produce."

"I know, I like Val, it just sucked being the first week of the tour."

"Oh, yeah, Maks and I missed you guys so much.  We bonded over wishing we were there with you."

"It's very strange for me to see her working with another partner, especially people who train so differently than we did.  See, I feel like the two of us work almost the same as Meryl and I did.  But Val seemed extremely harsh, and with Maks they're just...goofy."

"That's so funny.  I can't get over how he is this season. It actually makes me very happy."

Charlie considered this.  He had way too much on his plate this week to devote any more angst over Meryl and her training situation, especially since she seemed perfectly fine with how it was all playing out.  Alright, therapy over, let's dance.

Overall, it wasn't as difficult as the jive technique wise, but it was so fast, and it was longer than any dances they had done so far.  He also had to learn some choreography for a bumper he was going to dance with animated penguins from the movie. That was so cool he could hardly stand it.  He and Sharna went over and over and over their dance.  By the end of the week, it was really looking like something that could be special. They had all the prop tosses down. 

Monday morning, they were at the studio by 7:45.  The costumes were perfect.  They rehearsed with the troop, who made the dance even more fantastic. Charlie was more nervous than he had been in past weeks because he felt like this was potentially their dance that would put them back on top and make people see them as obvious contenders.  Everything went exactly according to plan at dress rehearsal.  People in the studio went bananas. He could hardly wait.

And then he dropped that hateful cane.  He must have used up all of his performance mojo luck on willing himself not to fuck up the twizzles for the last two years. He didn't want to look at Sharna when it was over, but she forgave him instantly.  The scores were great, too good really.  He didn't feel like he'd earned that 10.  He was so mad at himself.  What could have been.

Meryl was the only one to tell him not to worry about it.  (He had about 100 _don't worry about it, bro_ texts.) She stood next to him, put her arm around his waist, put her head on his chest and sighed.

"Exactly." He said.

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

Meryl:  Week 6

 

They were sitting on the tarmac waiting to take off for the long journey from LA to Manchester, New Hampshire.  Maks was really quiet this morning, and Meryl had two episodes of _Game of Thrones_ on her iPad that she was planning to watch.  If he fell asleep, she wouldn't be too sad.  She didn't want to put her headphones in and veg out with him fully conscious beside her.  It just seemed rude.  Maybe he'll read.

"Have you ever been to New Hampshire?"  Oh good, small talk.

"Yeah, the last time we toured.  And we took a family vacation there when I was little. Have you?"

"We went there on a _Dancing with the Stars_ tour a few years ago, I think.  I don't remember exactly. I'm going to try to make it more memorable this time."

The plane took off, and Meryl felt that momentary panic again as they lifted into the air.  No matter how many times she flew, take-off was her least favorite.  Maks felt her tense up and very lightly stroked her arm with his thumb until she relaxed.  She wasn't used to casual touching when she flew with Charlie--they didn't often sit together anyway.  When she had traveled with Fedor, they were usually well into books at this point.  It was nice to be around someone so physically demonstrative, but she didn't really know what it meant.

"I'm feeling very Zen today." He told her.

"That's good.  I am, too."

"I'm sorry about yesterday."

"Seriously, Maks, stop apologizing. It was fine.  I knew going into to it there would be weeks where I would struggle.  We worked through it, it's fine.  And we're really in a good place with the dance at this point."

"They're going to make it all about me swearing at you and almost losing it."

"I don't care."

"I do.  Those packages can ruin you."

"You didn't do anything that could ruin us."

"You have no idea what they can do."

"I really don't think you should worry about it. The dance will be what people remember.  I'm glad we didn't have packages before we skated programs.  Ours--Charlie's and mine--would be really boring."

"What would they look like?"

"Working on a lift a hundred times and then drilling footwork.  Our coach yelling at Charlie in Russian-English."

"She doesn't yell at you?"

"No.  Charlie is her baby; I'm like her doll.  She places me sometimes, but she doesn't yell at me."

"Does anyone yell at you, other than me yesterday?"

"That wasn't yelling.  No, I don't have many yellers in my life.  My parents had a much more effective method of quietly expressing their disapproval."

"Everyone in my family yells.  We are yellers. We get over it fast, though."

"See, I would have enjoyed being yelled at instead of spending days with _we are really disappointed in you_ looks coming my way."

"Grass is greener, probably."

"Yeah."

"Silver lining of not being home for the holidays is avoiding my mother yelling at me for yesterday's behavior."

"Oh, no!  I'm trying not to think about it being Easter this week.  I haven't spent many away from Michigan.  Do you celebrate both Passover and Easter at home?"

"Yes, we do the Seder and then the next day my mother gets out the eggs. Ukrainian Easter eggs are a big deal."

"Do you consider yourself Christian _and_ Jewish? Do you, like, believe in Jesus?"

"I'm not sure.  I believe in God and trust he will let me sort it out later.  You're Christian, right?"

"Well, culturally."

"Not spiritually?"

"Not really.  We went to church on Christmas and Easter growing up.  I guess I'm agnostic now."  She laughed at her phrasing.  "I'm agnostic about my agnosticism."

"So not really spiritual at all?"

"Hmmm...sometimes.  If I see beautiful architecture and art or if I hear inspiring music--that touches me spiritually.  But I've never really attributed it to a...spiritual being.  That's not completely true.  Particularly when we're traveling in Europe, and we go to a museum or a historic church and I see religious art, I do feel something above or deeper than, like, secular sights--if that makes sense.  But it's not so simply defined as _God_.  And I wonder if what I am reacting to is the religious passion of the artist."

"When you visit a shrine in Japan, let's say, and you see Japanese religious art, do you have the same feeling? Do you feel that religious passion?"

"No, and that's not something I've ever thought about, but no.  So maybe there is a deep connection inside me towards Christianity.  Or maybe it's just a coded DNA thing.  But you feel very spiritual?"

"Yes, I feel like it's a fundamental part of me.  But I don't go to church either unless I'm home, and we almost never go to the synagogue." 

"Yeah, my religious holiday memories are all of family."

"Mine, too."

"This weekend is going to be hard."

"It's okay, we'll do something to celebrate, even if it's eating Easter candy in the trailers."

"That sounds really depressing."

"I know. I'm sure Val and Tony will have something cooked up, so we can crash that.  Charlie, too."

During their stop over, they hung out with Charlie and Sharna and took silly pictures and laughed a lot.  The trip went by remarkably fast, and after what felt like no time, Meryl was settling into her hotel room and finally watching her shows. She fell asleep after fifteen minutes.

They repeated the routine from last week:  dance in the morning, media during rehearsal, lunch, head to the venue.  Sharna would go back to the hotel, but Maks hung out with them until it was time for the show. Then he and Sharna would head to the next city in the DWTS van.  Meryl and Charlie would be a few hours behind in the tour bus.  Hotel in the middle of the night, up at seven to dance, repeat.

Meryl was still very happy to see the other three in the morning, and that was a good sign.  It's what kept her going with Charlie all those months, and she knew that not everyone had that kind of training situation.  Maks's face lit up when they saw each other.  She had no idea what his feelings were towards her.  He had been at this game a long time, and even though they didn't talk about it much, she knew he was very hungry to win.  Was he playing up a potential romance between them to hook viewers--she couldn't be sure.  She did feel confident that it was at least a real friendship, and she would settle for that if she had to.

Her instinct was that if they were having the typical run on this show--ie in LA for the whole time and not constantly flying around the country--that they would be having a fairly hot affair at least.  She had  a tendency to jump into "relationships" like this, and it had all the makings of a typical Meryl relationship.  They were stalled due to exhaustion, logistics and also that a producer was following them around all the time.  In spite of the fact that there were times Meryl frankly wanted to jump on him, she suspected that their situation was beneficial.  An affair could end badly or take away from the work.  And that was increasingly becoming the most important thing for her. 

The night after the Portland show, they met up to once again fly across the country.  This time, though, they would be back a day early--not to relax, but to participate in camera blocking all day Easter Sunday.  Maks and Sharna brought takeout from a seafood place for them, and it was great to get to experience a little of Maine as they were leaving.  Tanith was in LA, and Charlie and Sharna were both very eager to get back.  Meryl wished she had more time to explore New England.  As the other two passed out, Meryl and Maks talked quietly about their upcoming week.  They only had two Stars on Ice shows, but one was Detroit, which meant another homecoming.  As much as Meryl longed to be home again, the thought of all that media was overwhelming. 

"Well, let's get through this show, and then we'll tackle next week." Maks reassured her.

"I'm so excited for," Meryl checked her phone, "tomorrow." She giggled a little.

"I can't wait." 

Meryl looked up at him, and he lowered his face and kissed her very softly.  Chastely, but sweetly.  She snuggled against his arm and gazed out the window. The next thing she knew, they were preparing to land.

Sunday was filled with rehearsal and waiting.  The tango wowed and impressed.  Meryl tried on her costume and was even more excited for the show.

Charlie left immediately after rehearsal to go have Easter dinner with Tanith. 

"Val and Tony's big holiday plans are to go out for tacos." Maks sounded disappointed.

"Easter tacos it is, then."

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

Charlie:  Week 6

 

Is there anything more loathsome than cha cha?

"Yeah, samba." Meryl told him.

They were eating dinner at the arena in Portland and Charlie was still going over his dance.

"I've hated cha cha longer than I've loved most things. Think about that one."

"Sooooo deep."

"I just can't think of anything I'm less inclined to than Latin ballroom."

"And yet you're an ice dancer."

"I know, it's a cruel fate. I will be in so much trouble for this week's package." Charlie added more sugar to his tea.

"F-bombs or worse?"

"Worse?"

"Okay, how many?" Meryl had finished most of her meal and now was starting in on a Cadbury Cream Egg.  She split it in two and was daintily licking the filling.

"There could be a lot.  They'll probably put me right after you and Maks gaze into each other's eyes for three minutes."

"Oooooh, not this week." She laughed.

"Oh my god, no.  You didn't cry?!"

"Of course not."  She had de-creamed one side and was now nibbling the chocolate. "Maks had an existential crisis and fuck, fucking, fucked enough to keep up with you. I might have had a little trouble with tango technique--on TUESDAY." She emphasized.

"I love it!  This is the best thing I've heard all week; makes me want to cha cha cha!"

"Don't get too excited, Chuck."

"Did he swear _at_ you?"

"Well I stepped on his foot with a stiletto heel, but that was more of a general fuck.  I think he called me 'so fucking timid'."

"Oh, that's Marina-esque.  Minus the fucking. No wonder he followed you around like a little puppy all week.  Guilty!"

"Hey! It's not just guilt."

"I don't see how you can eat those things. Yeesh."

"They're delicious, and more for me."

"What's stressed out Maks like?"

"Have you never watched this show?"

"I assume he didn't hit you."

"Oh, good lord." She rolled her eyes.  "No.  He's...he's a little ragey, mad, frustrated Scott Moir and then he's a little weepy, despondent Tanith Belbin."

Charlie laughed.  "You're not allowed to say that."

"Sorry."

"Your tango looks amazing, so I'm not sure what you have to be stressed about."

"It was rough in the early stages.  You know me and choreography, and the  more stressed he got, the more I was flustered.  You know how it works."

"You've obviously worked it out.  Is there a story?"

"Yeah."

"Meryl and Maks go to a party!" Charlie sing-songed.  He was echoing Scott Moir who had once mean-humorously said to a group of people at the rink that the deepest Davis and White ever got was--he sang this part--"Meryl and Charlie go to a party!"  It was after Tessa and Scott were beaten at the 2011 Grand Prix Final, which he was furious about. "No, I get get it: Meryl and Maks go to a party, and they're the coolest people there.  They're certainly way too cool for their outerwear."

"That's it!  Meryl and Maks are the coolest people at the party.  Then these douchebags request a 90s hit and insist the host turn off the lights so they can show off their day-glo clothing.  So cool Meryl and Maks leave." Meryl dramatically shucked her jacket.

"Yes!" Charlie was practically under the table.

"So really, Maks and I are supposed to be people who meet up, not to talk.  They take off their jackets, 'dance a passionate tango'," she was air quoting that last part, "And then they leave without a word."

"Oh my.  So...have you and Maks 'danced a passionate tango'?"

"Wouldn't you like to know!"

"I would wonder when you had the time, but sometimes one has to be creative."

"I'm not that creative," she said wistfully.  He threw his napkin at her.

He figured it was only a matter of time, and honestly, he could hardly blame her because he couldn't wait to get back to LA and spend some quality time with Tanith.  He probably wouldn't chose Maks for Meryl to have a...fling or whatever with, but he had never liked her boyfriends anyway.  Why couldn't she fall madly in love with Evan Bates?

Long flight back, rehearsal, Easter with Tanith, Monday craziness, show.  He was pleased with how the cha cha turned out.  It could have been so much worse.  Sharna was disappointed with the scores, but he thought they were fair.  On to Latin week!  He's was a lucky, lucky boy!


	13. Chapter 13

Meryl:  Week 7, Part 1

 

Week 7 began about 10 minutes after week 6.  The "Stars" were called up to Erin to pick teams for the group dances while the pros had to stay backstage.  Meryl was a team captain and as the highest scorer got to pick first.  The separation was hilarious. As if she and Maks hadn't analyzed their strategy from every possible direction.

"Pick Derek."

"You won't be grounded for not picking Val first?"

"Yes, but that's okay.  Pick Derek."

"I will not. Val first. Then Derek."

"Charlie will get him."

"Charlie will pick James.  I'm 99% sure."

"That makes no sense."

"But it does.  Charlie loves his bros.  And he likes Peta.  I promise you, he'll go for James."

It played out amazingly for Meryl and Maks.  Charlie not only picked James and Peta first, but then went for Tony and NeNe.  Apparently Tony had reached bro status.  That left them with Derek, Val and Mark.  A true dream team, which Val immediately pointed out.  They picked up some takeout and headed straight for the rehearsal studio for the first team meeting. Three hours later, they had pretty much nailed down the choreography, although it was going to need a lot of practice.  Maks and Derek worked together seamlessly.  It amused Meryl greatly that Val became a little brother when Maks was around. Where was that aggressive guy from Argentine tango week? Mark hung back as well. Before she had worked with Maks, Meryl would have doubted that he and Derek could collaborate so efficiently and with so little drama, but it didn't surprise her at all now.  She particularly loved the way Maks worked with Amy and Candace helping them get a feel for the style.  He was so sweet and funny, and they were laughing and hanging on him a bit.  Derek was a technical wizard, and by the end of the night, Meryl was feeling less stressed than she had in a week.

Maks got her safely in a car and she headed back to Malibu. No kisses.  No offers to go for a drink or to his place or to her place.  Probably for the best, but so frustrating.  It took everything in her not to pounce.  Ugh, Davis let's try to be a little dignified. 

A long morning run and a nine o'clock call time was very helpful. She arrived at the rehearsal studio in the morning ready to go on the salsa.  The atmosphere in the room was completely different from the week before.  This was a party dance, and Maks was teaching her by teasing her relentlessly.  No, she couldn't twerk.  No, she had never really tried.  No, she wasn't going to start now. He kept asking to see her out of control sexiness.  The irony of the whole situation made her laugh.  Oh, Maks, apparently you have no idea.  If only I could go full-on sexy. They worked out the choreography in the morning, and the troupe joined them right after lunch.  It was so much fun to dance with them and they were very helpful to Meryl giving her live examples of what it should all look like.  Group rehearsal in the late afternoon was again productive and fun.  Home early for her first night of real, uninterrupted sleep in so long she couldn't remember.  Alone.

The next day Maks and Val's friend Nicole was in town with a big gift bag of clothes from Val's and her line.  It made her feel part of the family; a new little sister. Exactly what she wanted to be.  Meryl and Maks both were a bit wrecked in rehearsal, trading off mishaps, and by the afternoon they were collapsed on the floor.

"I have to go," Meryl made no moves but was eying the door.

"Why?"

"I have a hair appointment with some celebrity hairdresser Danica set me up with.  I'm in desperate need of color."

"Come over for dinner after.  I'm cooking for Nicole.  And Tony and Val, of course."

Meryl arrived at Mak's place three hours later with hair expertly blown out, which it should be for as much as she paid.  Not in Michigan anymore.

"It's beautiful!" Maks framed her face with her hair. It was a fun evening with great food, and Meryl was really feeling like a part of the group.  She sat pressed up against Maks on the couch.  From lack of sexual attention she was becoming an incorrigible cuddle slut.  It was the best she could do apparently.  She was on her way home by ten.  Sigh.

She was packed for the trip east before rehearsals Thursday.  They had a late afternoon flight to Pittsburgh and were going to rehearse right up until time to go to the airport. There were very few people on the flight from LA, and the foursome and a lone business man were by themselves in first class.  Their producers and camera guys were in coach, which made Meryl uncomfortable, but it seemed to be the way all of this went.  At least Maks and Sharna were allowed with them.  They played travel games and laughed the whole flight. They were supposed to be at their hotel by 1:00 A.M., but of course Charlie and Sharna's luggage got lost lost.  They rolled in--to separate rooms--around 2:30.

Their practice studio in Pittsburgh was in the old downtown area.  It had seen better days but was very charming.  Maks and Charlie both lit up taking in the architecture.  For two guys that were supposedly diametrically apposed, they certainly got turned on by similar things.  Meryl fully expected Maks to be rooting for the Wolverines next football season.  It was nice to be reunited with the Stars on Ice folks, while Maks and Sharna were on their way to Detroit.  Show, buses, four and a half hour drive. Exhaustion.

She wasn't even sure she wanted to stay in her condo for their day and night in Detroit, but the call of her very own bed swayed her.  Her parents met her there early Saturday morning with lots of food.

"Don't even look at the mail," Cheryl urged her.  "I have it under control." Meryl did as she was told and tried not to be overwhelmed by everything at her little place.  It was unavoidable, though, as the last time she had been there for more than a night she had been in the full throws of Olympic training stress.  She took a shower, and all of those feelings were right there.  Stop! We won! It's over.  But it didn't feel like it. She hoped that the accomplishment would eventually sink in and she would be able to enjoy the satisfaction off all that work.  And her presence on Dancing with the Stars was certainly a huge reward, but it was hard to think of it rationally in that way. Now she wanted to win the show with Maks.  Then throw herself into school.  Then grad school.  She suspected she would never be satisfied.

She tried to let go of the stress during the drive to the dance studio in Detroit--it was amazing to drive her own car again. She was a little bit late, and Maks was a little bit annoyed.

"Sorry."

"Our plane takes off at five."

"I know, I'm sorry.  It's going to suck flying back tomorrow without you."

He smiled.  It really wasn't that hard.  They salsa-ed, goofed around a bit and did some local media.  They ordered in lunch and marveled at the quiet.  Charlie and Sharna were at a separate studio, and the producers and gone over there for more media.  It was just them and a lone camera guy, who seemed really bored.

"Your home town show."

"It's going to be something else.  I think Charlie and I will be related to half the crowd."

"I wish I could hang out with your family tonight."

"I wish you could, too."

They looked at each other for a long moment.

"Okay, one more salsa for the road?" He pulled her up and swung her around with her head leaning against his shoulder and her arms around his neck. 

There was a big Davis family reunion that night, which was wonderful, but she was happy to go back to the condo early.  She didn't have to be at the arena until noon and she was planning to do absolutely nothing until then.

Skating with Charlie was so grounding.  They didn't even specifically rehearse, just skated the way they would every day at the start of practice; not talking just breathing and skating.  There was some media at the rink, but it was the old crew--the sports guys they had grown up with and who were old friends.  Answering the same old questions (and to be fair, some decent new ones), was much less annoying with the home guys. They had about an hour and a half to rest back stage before the show started.

 **Maks** 2:45 Miss you at blocking. Going crazy. 

 **Meryl** 2:47 Oh, no! What's up?

 **Maks** 2:48 Nothing is working in the group.  We have to do it again in a few minutes.

 **Meryl** 2:50 What do you mean nothing is working?

 **Maks** 2:52 The space is so small, I don't know if we will fit, and some people are struggling with the dance.  Danica's broken rib...I could go on.

 **Meryl**   2:53 I wish I were there.

 **Maks** 2:54 Me, too.

 **Meryl** 2:55 I'll be there in 12 hours.

 **Maks** : 2:56 Text me when you're on the plane.

 **Maks** 2:57 Have a good show.

 **Meryl** 2:58 :) Hope blocking works itself out. 

Meryl tried to enjoy just skating in her home town in front of her favorite people, and she did almost. But she was anxious to get on the plane back to LA, to throw herself into the live show and into another week of insanity.  Charlie was a bit morose to be leaving Tanith once again, but Meryl was counting the moments until they landed, and she was back in the trailers on the lot getting her crazy salsa hair and ready to dance with him some more.

 

 

 


	14. Chapter 14

Charlie:  Week 7

 

Charlie was weary as he boarded the chartered flight back to LA. He wasn't just physically tired, he was apprehensive, anxious and sad.  The trip to Detroit hadn't been long enough, and he already was counting the days before he would see Tanith again.  He checked his phone again to see the picture of the house they had put in a bid for.   He could hardly wait to move in with his little family.  The house itself wasn't special--Tanith had found it in a suburban community between Ann Arbor and Canton, and it was about as charming as a suburban starter house could be, but he was so ready to be done with the constant travel and worry.  The place seemed like heaven.  Meryl hadn't been very enthusiastic when she saw the picture earlier in the week.

"But, I thought you guys were looking in Detroit."

"That's not very practical, with school for me and the rink for Tanith."

"You're right.  I just love those places they're renovating down town, and I was hoping you could get one."

"Sorry that you're desire to hang out down town in a cool townhouse wasn't one of our top five priorities."

"I hope I cracked the top ten."

"Of course, and nothing is stopping you from selling the condo and moving to Detroit."

"You're right, it's totally impractical."

"I may not stay in Michigan for law school.  Tanith has fallen in love with LA."

Meryl had put her head on his shoulder.

"I don't want to think about that."

He squeezed her around her shoulders.

"It's years away, and I would bet serious money that you will be the first to go anyway."

She didn't correct him.

Charlie put his phone on the tray table and looked over at Meryl. She was texting someone, and though her body was relaxed, her eyes were animated and lit up at every ding.

"You're going to see him in five hours."  Charlie took a wild guess at who was at the other end of those texts.

"Shut up."

"Oh, Maks, your two-day stubble is my beginning and my end."

"You are such a jackass."

But she put the phone down.

"It _is_ weird flying without them.  Sharna always has the best snacks."

"She actually goes to the grocery store." Charlie sounded wistful.

"When does she have time?"

"I have no idea.  Maybe in the middle of the night?  Maybe she just sends Paul."

"I did snag something for us, though."  Meryl pulled out a two-thirds full bottle of Jack Daniels from her bag. "I love charter flights!"

"Meryl Davis! Is that yours?"

"It's a remnant from the Fedor era, but it wasn't doing any good in my pantry.  I'm going to find something to mix it with."

Meryl walked back to the galley and returned with a coke and two glasses.

"Do you want ice?"

"No, this is fine." Meryl poured the drinks.  Charlie noticed she put very little whiskey in hers.

They clinked glasses and sat back in their seats.

"Here's to getting voted off soon!" Charlie offered.

"You don't mean it."

"Don't I? Four days off between ice shows? Time to hang out aimlessly in LA? Absolutely nothing to do? Oh yeah, that would be awful."

"We'll be finished soon."

"It seems like a lot of weeks left."

"Really? I think it's flying by.  It's going to be over so quickly."  She sounded unhappy about that.

"I can't wait!"

"I'm not going to say I wouldn't love a day off."

"What would you do?"

She took a drink and thought a long moment.

"I guess I need two days.  One day, I would to just lie on the beach and read and sleep.  And one day I want to lie in bed and watch TV."

"That sounds like the best two days ever."

"I know."  She looked at him in her Meryl way and a tiny surge of feeling he had tried so hard to bury reemerged.  Tamp it down!  "Are you really not enjoying it much?  I know the schedule is ridiculous, but it's so much fun traveling with the three of you on our dance studio tour."

"Of course you're having fun!  You and Maks are kicking the show's ass!"

"Charlie..."

"No, I understand, that would be fun.  You seem really, really happy."

"I am happy, and there's nothing wring with that."  She got her phone back out.  Really, he was that easy to dismiss?

"You obviously are.  You're like a different fucking person from the one I know who could hardly eat or sleep for four years of training."

That got her to put the phone down.

"What the hell?"

She looked at him baffled and hurt and he felt instantly sorry.

"God, I'm an asshole.  I don't know what's the matter."

"You're tired and homesick.  I am, too.  And yeah, this is a lot less stressful than training for the Olympics.  You know that, doofus." She looked him right in the eye.

"Obviously.  It's hard, though.  And a lot of it isn't fun right now."

"Why?"

"Because...it's one thing after another, and I want to be good, but I can never quite manage it."

Meryl gave him a sad puppy face.  "Charlie, you are so good."

"I feel like I am barely hanging on."

"Do I have to remind you of how amazing the show we just skated  was?  We'll be done with dancing in a few weeks, and you will remember how much fun we had.  But we put in all the work for skating, and that couldn't be better."

"Will you paso for me tomorrow?"

"No I won't paaaaaso for you." 

"Miss Chmerkovskiy, making fun of my accent?"

"What aaaaaaaacent?"

"Excuse me for sounding like where I come from."

"Shut up, you know I love it. You wanna watch _Game of Thrones_?  I have the first three from this season."

"Yes!"  Charlie got out his headphones and they settled in to watch the show.  They made it through about half of the first episode before they were both asleep.

 

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

Meryl:  Week 7, Part 2

 

The plane touched down in LA at 11:00 P.M.  Meryl and Charlie staggered out and were whisked into separate cars.  Before they reached the turn-off for Malibu, Meryl had an impulse to redirect the driver to Maks's apartment.  Of course, she didn't.  Val and Tony and whatever member of the east coast entourage currently in town would love it too much.  She texted him instead.

Meryl: 11:37  Home.

Maks:  11:38 Malibu already?

Meryl:  11:39 En route.

Maks: 11:39  Did you sleep?

Meryl:  11:40  Yes. Charlie was being weird. I'll tell you more tomorrow.

Maks:  11:40 Is he okay?  Are you okay?

Meryl:  11:41  lolls.  Yes, I'm fine.  Paso doble drama, I guess.

Maks:  11:42 Sharna is stresssssssed, too.

Meryl:  11:43 Tomorrow is another day.

Meryl:  11:44  See you very soon.  Sleep!

Maks:  11:44 Yes.

Maks:  11:44 See you. Missed you.

Meryl:  11:45  :)

She walked in as quietly as possible, but Ed was still up.

"How was Detroit?"

She was half charmed and half creeped out that he was following her travel schedule.

"It was too fast.  I slept in my own bed last night, so that was amazing."

"Are you hungry?"

"Starving, of course."

"Linda has a whole array for you."

After a delicious plate of tofu stir fry, a big bowl of fruit and two bites of a vegan brownie (Yeah, no.) Meryl patted Ed on the shoulder and headed off to bed.  In seemingly fifteen minutes, the alarm went off and she had to rush to make her early call.  She and Danica were to have epic hair this week, so she had to head straight to the hair trailer, where two technicians immediately started setting her hair on a million tiny rollers. About 45 minutes into the process, the door opened and Maks ambled in with a cup in each hand.

"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Meryl squealed, even for her.  Cringe. He didn't seem to care and planted a big kiss on the side of her face.

"Chai soy latte?"

"Thank you!" 

"Danica, Val has yours, he'll be in here in a minute."

"Thanks." Danica was almost finished with her curls.  Meryl had twice as much hair.

"Have you seen the costumes?"

"No, this was my first stop."

"They are something," Danica said.  "La Vida Loca are adorable.  The solo salsas..."

"Danica is going to lose her nerd cred." Maks filled her in.

"Math nerds can still be hot, you're a living testament to that," Meryl reassured her.

Val came in and took his partner to wardrobe after kissing Meryl.

"Welcome back, princess.  This one was a disaster without you."

"Why do you say things like that?" His brother chided him. "You're late for costumes."

"That good ol' Chmerkovskiy banter."  Meryl grinned at him.

"You know you missed it."

"I did."

"What's up with Charlie?"

"I'm not completely sure.  He seems really defeated."

"Almost everyone feels that way at some point in the season."

"Yeah, Danica is in serious pain."

"I know; it's bad."

The stylist pinned part of Meryl's hair on top of her head and then unloaded a whole can of hair spray on her before Meryl was allowed to see the final look.

"Wow," Meryl said.

"Wow," Maks replied. You look like the first girls I saw when we moved to New York in '92."

"Yeah, this looks like the hair girls were wearing when I first noticed hair styles."

"I'm so glad you were born in the 80s."

"Anyone not born in the 80s is too young for you." She couldn't believe she said that, implying that they were a couple.

"That is so true. You have no idea."  He escorted her out to wardrobe.

They practiced every spare second with the group for that dance and with the troupe for the solo dance, and the day flew by. She didn't get to see Charlie's rehearsal, but he looked so good in his paso costume.  When did he have time to shave everything?  That was weird.  She wasn't sure she loved it.  It felt wrong.

"Does Tanith know?" Meryl couldn't stop touching it.

"Of course.  I texted her."

"You see her in Chicago next week?"

"Yes, it's going to be a stubbly mess."

"You should probably get waxed just in case you have to take off your shirt again."

"That's what Sharna said."

"It won't grow out so painfully if you do."

"Okay."

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I think so.  Good show." He pulled her in for a hug.

"Good show."

"That hair.  How much hairspray?"

"You don't want to know."

The show turned out to be one thing after another.  Amy injured herself and was taken to the hospital.  The producers decided that Meryl's team would have their rehearsal footage shown.  Thank goodness it went well.  Charlie and Sharna danced the hell out of the paso and then got super mean comments.  Len said it wasn't special. Meryl was devastated for them, and so was Maks. Their group number was a bit of a mess, but Meryl hated hearing those comments, too, and then her team got nothing but gushing praise.  Charlie was in jeopardy, but didn't go home.  It was too much. She clung to Maks doing press. They were asked repeatedly about their relationship, and she was interested in what Maks had to say.  He deflected, of course.  She did, too.  They had found out that afternoon that they were doing a mini-group dance with Danica and Val next week, which was great except that Danica was still in so much pain.

They were invited to Cheryl Burke's birthday party after the show.

"Do you just want to go home, or do you want to go and have a drink?" Maks seemed very tired, too.

"I'd like to make an appearance.  I got her a Michigan hoodie.  One drink?"

"Sounds good.  I'll tell your driver that I'll take you home."

Maks ordered a cranberry and club soda.  Meryl ordered the same with a half jigger of vodka.

"Is that even worth it?"

"Yes.  You drink your drink, and I'll..."

"Yes, yes.  Have you ever been wasted?"

"Asks the teetotaler?"

"Just for tonight.  Don't evade the question."

"Yes I've been wasted."

"When was the last time?"

Meryl had to think.  "Summer...2009? I think?  Yeah.  It involved margaritas.  I've only recently been able to handle tequila again.  You?"

"New Years this year."

"That's my birthday! Everyone is always hung over."

"2009? I don't believe it."

"We have been in serious training mode since then.  I have been tipsy, though.  In fact, this time last year Charlie and I were in LA and Derek Hough almost got us drunk."

Maks laughed.  "No better drinking than with a Mormon."

"He doesn't really practice, does he?"

"I don't think so, anyway, tell me this story."

"We went out to dinner and Charlie and I had nearly a whole bottle of wine between us.  That was crazy.  He almost put the moves on me." Meryl felt slightly disloyal telling this story.

"Charlie or Derek?"

"Charlie.  He kissed me and he was...ready for more?  And so was I, really, but I sent him away and saved his life."

"Tanith didn't find out?"

"Not specifically, but it was awkward with her for a while.  I think she suspected something."

They were both quiet.

"I won't ask if you are over him, but what are your feelings toward him?"

Meryl felt like a whole lot was riding on this answer. 

"Maks...I can't put this into words.  There is still...some pain there.  I don't feel it all the time--it sneaks up on me.  But I'm ready to move on."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

They finished their drinks, and went to hug Cheryl and say goodbye.  Maks guided her to the car and shut her door.  They were quiet on the way back to Malibu. He walked her up to the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he told her softly.  He took her face in his hands, and she looked up at him.  He kissed her and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. He pulled her into an embrace, lifted her off the ground and squeezed her tightly.  Then he placed her down and kissed her softly once more. 

"Good night, Meryl." And he was on his way.

 

 

 

 


	16. Chapter 16

Charlie: Week 7, Part 2

 

He felt his knee buckle and his spirit simultaneously gave out.  They finished the dance, and Len declared them not special.  Sharna pushed him over to Meryl who put her arms around him and whispered "Bullshit" in his ear.  They got the same score as last week with Ricky's 10 cancelling out Len's 8.

Sharna was about to angry cry as the crew hurried them backstage to change into their group costumes.

"It's such fucking bullshit!" She yelled as she started shucking her paso costume in front of him.  Hello, Sharna's boobs.  He turned around and someone thrust his costume at him.

"I hate this fucking show." She was crying in earnest.

He pulled on his blue shirt, giving her a moment to put on her costume, and then he turned around and hugged her. 

"Did you see my knee give? It was my fault.  The dance you choreographed was brilliant."

"No, you were great, Charlie." She quickly dried her tears as a make-up guy swooped in.  "It's some larger agenda, I guess, and I'm so fucking tired of it." 

Charlie ducked behind a curtain to change his pants.  "I don't know what they want from us."

"I have no idea.  What the hell?"  The make-up guy switched over to Charlie.  Some of the other pros swarmed over Sharna with outrage and consolation. Charlie marveled, not for the first time, about the camaraderie between the pros on this show.  The editors always tried to play up every conflict, but he had only seen them be completely supportive of each other.  They were the real stars of the show.  Val grabbed him.

"Such bullshit, but don't think about it, Charlie man, just go out and kick this next one's ass."  He slapped Val on the back as thanks.

They danced as well as they could with their group, but the judges were again unimpressed.  Meryl and Maks killed it in both rounds.  He was thrilled for them but a little bit jealous, too.  Meryl looked ridiculous with that hair, yet hot at the same time.  Maks costumed her so completely differently than she had herself for their skating programs.  Charlie wondered if that was part of their secret--she was a completely new person, while he was pretty much the same ol' Charlie--even with a bare chest.

The press line was painful, but the journalists all seemed in agreement that they had been screwed. One pointed out that their packages were much shorter than the rest of the field.  In between interviews, Charlie whispered in her ear,

"Maybe we should pretend to have a torrid affair?"  That got a pained half-smile.

"They would probably point out that we lacked Maks and Meryl's chemistry.  Len would give it a 7."

Charlie laughed, and Sharna finally really smiled.

"Do you want to go Cheryl's party?" He asked her.

"I should, but I really don't feel like it.  I want to find some studio space and work on the quickstep."

"Let's do that."

Meryl walked over and put her arms around him.  She didn't say anything, and they held on to each other for moments past a casual hug.

"Are you going to this thing?"

"No, we're going to work on the quickstep. Are you guys?"

"We're going to go for one drink.  I'm exhausted.  You must be, too.  Don't work too hard."

"No, we're just going to get started and throw ourselves in.  That's the best way to continue."

"Jacqui wants to talk to you.  I've heard from her and Cheryl."

"I know. I'll face the music in a minute."

"I voted for you--all the votes."

"I voted for us, too."

"That's good! That's a relief.  No more wanting to go home talk."

"No, I don't want to be eliminated.  That, at least, is very clear."

Maks came over and wrapped him in a bear hug.  "Total bullshit, man."  He kissed Sharna on the cheek.

"I'm throwing all of this into the quickstep." She told them.  Maks and Meryl left for the party.

"Do you have your dance clothes?" Sharna was heading for the door.

"Of course."

"Then let's get to work."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was brought to you by the word bullshit.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a tough week and not a very fun show. So, I decided to go with some smutty smut, because, why not. Hence the rating change, and be forewarned if you're not comfortable with mild rated R material.

Meryl:  Week 8, Part 1

 

The driver pulled up to the door of the studio where _Access Hollywood_ filmed.  As she was opening the door, he appeared at her side to help her in.  After two months of this, she felt like she should be getting used to it, but it was still a bit shocking.  You know I can open my own door, right?

A staffer met her and walked her down a long hall to the green room.  Maks was standing outside the door, sunglasses still on.

"Oh!" she squealed.  Again with the squealing.  She really had to work on that.  But he was dressed in a sharp black t-shirt and crisp white pants, rolled above the ankle.  He looked amazing.  She had sent him a text:  _Coordinate this!_ and a picture of her outfit, earlier, but she hadn't heard back.  They had a difficult rehearsal and hadn't left each other on the very best terms the evening before, so she had no idea what to expect.  But he was perfect!  She was wearing a romper with a white top, black shorts and silver high-heeled sandals.  She fell against him, and he put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

They had been struggling all week in the rehearsals with Val and Danica for their samba.  The working dynamic between the four of them was just...off somehow.  Maks and Val's grandmother had visited, which had eased the tension temporarily, but when she left, the mood was bad again.  It was weird because their individual dance rehearsals were going perfectly.  She loved the rumba he had choreographed, and she couldn't wait to dance it, but the Samba was not coming along well.  She could handle tense Maks and Val, but Danica reacted to every slight.  Meryl wished she would just ignore and move on, but Danica felt everything needed to be addressed.  It escalated the tension.  Maks finally lashed out at Meryl to "Have some common sense!" And that was a step too far.  She quietly objected, but Danica took it and ran. It was so uncomfortable.  She got him to take a break, and cornered him in the lounge.

"Stop reacting to her," she implored.

"She's being a bitch."

"So are you."

"Babe..." He started again with that tone.

"Unless you're being sweet, don't call me _Babe_ or _Baby_.  I'm not your babe if you're being a jerk."

He sighed.  "Okay."

He did better keeping his mouth shut for the rest of rehearsal, but she could tell he was still in an awful mood.  He didn't kiss her when they left, and he and Val went to take their grandmother out to dinner, and didn't invite her along.  She took advantage of the evening off to spend some quality running and then beach time, but the way they parted bothered her.  His sartorial effort went a long way toward redemption.

Their interview was quite fun.  The hosts teased them about their romantic chemistry and she and Maks flirted fairly shamelessly.  The hour flew by.  They went back to the empty green room to gather their things.

"You want to grab lunch before we head to rehearsal?" Maks asked her.

"Sure," she said, but she looked at him with a purposefully inviting twinkle in her eye, and he responded by turning her around and kissing her intensely. She put her arms around his neck, which had become her signal for him to lift her off the ground.  This time, though, instead of letting her feet dangle, she pulled her legs around his waist.  He put his hands under her ass to lift her slightly, and he and moaned.

"Would you rather go to the apartment?" He whispered.

"I would."

He put her down and guided her in front of him.  They walked to the lot and told her driver Maks would drive her. 

Maks seemed a bit nervous as he opened the car door for her, but she tried to be as relaxed as possible.  She leaned against his side as he drove, and they didn't talk.  When they reached his apartment, remarkably empty of Val and members of the entourage that always seemed to be about, they went straight to his room.  He hoisted her back the way they were at the studio.

"Let's do that again," he said in her ear. They made out with abandon.

She reached down and started to remove his shirt.  He put her down and found the zipper to her romper.  It fell off, and she stepped out of it.  She fumbled with the top button of his pants, and he shucked them, picked her up and carried her, surprisingly gently to the bed.  He lay her down and eased himself on top of her, looking down with...admiration?  Adoration? She would take it.

He reached around to unfasten her bra.

"You might want to leave it on," she told him.

"Meryl," he said, in the soft way she had loved since the day they met. "I have been costuming you for two months.  I know what you have. I want all of you."

Song lyrics!  Try not to giggle, or worse, sing.  But he expertly (hmmmm...) undid the clasp and removed it. That was the last rational thought she had for a while.

When they finished, she sprawled on him like a very contented cat. 

"We are going to be late," but she didn't really care.  "You should be in a better mood today," she teased him, and kissed his neck lightly.

"I'm in a fantastic mood, but who knows how long it will last."

"We need a shower."

"That could help extend my mood."

They ignored their phones, which were quickly filling with texts from Val, and walked lazily into the bathroom.


	18. Chapter 18

Charlie:  Week 8

 

Jacqui's arrival was the worst kept secret in the DWTS rehearsal space.  He had seen Meryl earlier that morning, and she had given him a look like _don't ask me anything, I can't tell you anything_! and then quickly left the room. Charlie was waiting for his mother to come through the door, and thankfully, it didn't take long.  Still, it was really nice to see her and get a pep talk.  As soon as they finished their segment, he took her to lunch.  They invited Sharna, but she graciously let them have some time to themselves.  Charlie took her to an out of the way place with no photographers or anyone who seemed to care who he was. 

"So how are you really?" she asked him.

"Mom, I'm fine." She looked at him dubiously.  "Seriously.  Yes, it's exhausting.  Yes, I'm ready to be finished with the travel, but it's fine. It's actually fun for the most part."

"Meryl is concerned."

"How do you know?"

"I can tell."

"Mom." His _you have to be kidding me_ tone was unmistakable.

"No, we talked for a while this morning.  I think she's worried about you."

"What did she say specifically?"

"I didn't take notes. She's glad I'm here."

"She loves you, I'm sure she's happy to see you."

"Yes, but I can tell she's concerned about you."

"Okay, Mom.  It was one bad week.  It wasn't even that bad, really.  And this week is going to be great.  The dances are already finished."

"That's great, Charlie!"

"Yeah, so no one needs to worry.  This thing is almost finished.  If Monday is my last show, I feel like I'll be ending on a high note."

"You don't think Monday is your last show, do you?"

"No, not at all, I'm just trying to tell you that if it is..."

"We have everyone voting for you!"

"I know, Mom, thank you."

"Do you have a gut feeling that you will go home?"

"Ack, no!  I think it's going to be fine.  How's Dad?"

"Oh, he's good.  We're going to come see you in Chicago Saturday."

"That's great!  Have you talked to Tanith?"

"About...?"

"Riding with you to Chicago."

"I didn't know she needed a ride."

Charlie tried to be patient about this.  His mom was always perfectly pleasant with Tanith, and the two women got along fine. But they weren't terribly close.  She had been dead-set against the relationship in the beginning.  Charlie had felt under attack by all sides.  Well, Cheryl and Paul Davis and his dad never said anything to him about it, but they were the only ones.  Apparently his mom was holding out hope that he and Meryl would wake up one day and realize they were in love.  He had never even hinted about his complicated feelings for Meryl around his mother.  If anything, he would downplay even the friendship they had, which never worked. 

"She's going on with us to Minnesota and then flying back with me to LA on Sunday night."

"Oh, well of course she can come with us.  We're all going together--Cheryl and Paul.  I'm watching DJ next week, I just didn't put it all together."

"Can you bring DJ to Chicago?"  What can you say, the man missed his dog.

"Oh, sure, if it's alright with Tanith."

"Of course it is!"

"Well, okay. I didn't want to assume."

The waiter brought their sandwiches and they ate in silence for a few moments.

"Meryl looks so happy.  Is this thing with Maks real?"

"Mom!"

"What?"

"I have to answer this for you, too?  Why didn't you just ask her?"

"I did!  She said they were having fun, but she had a look in her eye, and then he came in and hugged me and practically swooped her off her feet."

"He's very affectionate."

"What do you think about it?"

Charlie sighed heavily and then laughed at the absurdity of it all.

"She's happy, I'm happy, Maks is happy, Sharna's happy, Tanith is happy.

"Well, that's great! What a happy bunch."

They both laughed. He could never stay annoyed at her.

"Are you ready to see some dancing? We're going to rehearse the contemporary with Candace and Mark this afternoon.  It kicks all kinds of ass.  And if you're really lucky, you can watch Meryl and Maks make-out in the break room."

She smacked him on the arm. "Charlie!"

"Oh, you know you want to.  Come on."

He linked her arm in his and they headed back to the studio.

 

 

 

 


	19. Chapter 19

Meryl and Maks:  Week 8, Part 2

 

Meryl

 

They walked in about an hour and a half late for rehearsal.  Val took one look at them.

"Oh my god," he said.

"Shut up," said Maks.

"What?" said Danica.

Then they all got to work, and by the time the airport shuttle was there for Meryl and Maks, the samba was looking much better.  They put their luggage in the back--Maks was not even staying 24 hours, so his was light, and hopped in. Meryl, Maks, Charlie, Sharna and two producers were on their way to Chicago.  Meryl was bursting to talk to Maks but she had to wait hours until they were strapped in their seats and on their way.

"Could Val tell just from looking at us?"

"Apparently.  I'm glad I'm the big brother, and he can't really say anything."

"My little brother gives me shit all the time."

"So does mine, but I have have enough on him in this area that he doesn't dare say a word."

"I see."

"Is Charlie going to kick my ass?"

"You should be okay there."

"I should kick his ass."

"Why?" They were laughing.

"For not running away with you when he had the chance."

"Fuck you!" She was still laughing and punched him in the side.

"No, I mean, for not realizing what he was missing."

"Oh, yeah, sure."

"No, really, Meryl." He wasn't laughing.  She put her arm around him and snuggled her head on his shoulder. 

"You are so sweet."

"Not really."

"No, you are. I can't believe you are going to Chicago for...15 hours.  You are going to be dead on your feet by Sunday."

"I don't have to skate two shows and ride a tour bus for...how long is it from Chicago to Minnesota?"

"I'm not sure."  Meryl looked it up.  "Seven hours."

"Oh my god."

"At least the flight home will be shorter," she said.

"Home?"

"Eek!  Charlie would kill me.  The flight back to LA."

"Home is nice."

"It is.  I love it there."

The luggage situation made their arrival easier, and the airport was really empty at one o'clock in the morning.  Sharna, Maks and the producers were staying in the same hotel as the skaters, which they didn't always do.  Meryl said nothing in the elevator when Charlie got off on the same floor that her room was on.  Sharna and the producers got off next. Meryl stayed on to the tenth floor and Maks's room.  They had agreed to nonchalantly play this off.   Maks assured her that the producers would not bother them about being together when they were not doing something specifically related to the show.  Still, Meryl was glad they were on a separate floor.

He opened the door for her.  One bed.  Why was she nervous? She hadn't been however many hours ago;  he had been the one shaking then.  He pulled her close and kissed her softly.  "You want to get changed for bed?  We have to be up in five hours."

She grabbed her stuff and headed for the bathroom.  Of course she had packed before this afternoon's debauchery, so she had nothing the least bit alluring.  Oh well, at least he would get the real her.  She pulled on a House Lannister t-shirt Charlie had given her for Christmas (Cersei had the best fashion sense in all the seven kingdoms) and some clean underwear and shorts.  She brushed her teeth and piled her hair on top of her head.

Maks was in a t-shirt and his boxer briefs, and headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

"Cute jammies."

"Thanks."  Dying.  She climbed into bed and tried to calm down.  It's just Maks. How many times have you slept against him? Breathe.  He came out of the bathroom, and he smiled at her disarmingly, and everything was okay. He turned off the light and got into bed.  He pulled her close.

"Do you just want to sleep?" he whispered.

"Eventually," she answered and rolled on top of him.

 

Maks

 

She was asleep about five minutes after she had rolled off of him, both of them sweaty, happy messes.  She had put her underwear and shirt back on--she apparently had to sleep in clothes--and then had fallen asleep on his chest with her arm draped over him.  Once again he was shocked at her tininess.  She was all mini skin, bone and muscle, a little bird.  His little bird, asleep on him. He brushed her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead.  She didn't stir.

He would have never predicted when he woke up Friday morning that his day would go the way it did.  He had resolved not to even try anything serious until the show was over.  He had planned to whisk her away to some secluded tropical place as soon as their media commitments were fulfilled, and he was fully prepared to wait until then to seduce her.  But that little thing had wrapped her legs around him, and claimed him.  What could he do?

From the start, he had been impressed by her...normalness? Normality? The English word failed him, but he had fallen for her especially because she was so untouched by how extraordinary she was.  She was immensely talented, and yet she thought of herself as an average 27 year old, embarrassed that she was so behind in university.  She was so driven to succeed, and yet so generous and patient with him, and no artist's temperament like his. She had that little girl voice and tiny body, but she could be such a strong, confident woman--even in bed.  Especially in bed.  Not timid there. It shouldn't have surprised him, but it did.  He kissed her again and eased her over to her side so he could sleep against her. 

 

Meryl

 

She woke up about three minutes before the alarm went off.  Ugh.  She wished they could take the day off, order room service (she was starving) and stay put.  He was spooned around her, sleeping like a little boy.  A big, little boy.  Her bear.  She brought his hand to her lips and kissed it. 

"Time to wake-up," she whispered.

"No," he pulled her back in.

"Come on, shower, and then we have to eat before we head to the studio."

"Five more minutes."

"Maks."

"Okay." 

After the shower, breakfast and a coffee and tea respectively, they were feeling human enough to dance.  Of course they were met at the studio by local press, and of course he played grumpy bear to the hilt.  Finally they were able to dance, putting the finishing touches on the rumba, which they were both thrilled with, and ran the samba several times. 

"It might not be a disaster." She laughed.

"We will all look sexy, at least."

"Yes, all so sexy," she mimicked his accent.

"I do not sound like that."

"You do a little bit.  Sanks everbuddy."

"You're hurting my feelings."

"Oh, no! I have no idea what that feels like, as you have never mocked my voice."

"Come on, you guys, let's salsa!" He squealed in his best Meryl.

"Exactly."

One more samba, and a quick Hail Mary, and it was time for him to go the airport and her to the skating venue. 

"This is ridiculous," she said quietly.

"I want to come back to Chicago sometime soon so we can actually see the city.  Maybe go to a baseball game."

"Yes, and maybe shopping."

"Okay, both."  He squeezed her hand. 

This _was_ ridiculous; she was going to see him again in 30 hours, and yet she hated to leave him.

"Bye," she said.  She kissed him.  He carried her bag into the cast entrance.  "Ugh, bye." He kissed her.

"Bye."  She watched him get in the van and drive away.

As soon as she got into the arena she was greeted by her folks, Jacqui and Big Charlie and Tanith and DJ.  She hugged her parents tightly and then went straight for the dog.

"Deej!" she held her doggy niece close.  "I missed you, girl."

Charlie took DJ on the ice to the delight of the small crowd watching practice, and Meryl settled in by her mom back stage.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Cheryl asked her.

"Do you want details?"

"No!" Cheryl put her head on Meryl's shoulder.  "But you are...together with him?"

"I mean...yeah.  It's hard to define because we were spending most of our time together any way, and we still are, but yes, there is something there.  I'm really happy."

"I can tell.  Everything is going well this week?"

"Yes and no.  The rumba is amazing, I am so excited about it.  The samba--I'm hoping for the best."

"I'm sure it will turn out fine."

"I think so, too."

"Charlie seems to be doing great this week."

"Yes! He's going to blow everyone away.  Both of them are the best he's done--I can't wait to see them in costume and everything."

"Everything is good between you two?"

"Of course, why wouldn't it be?"

"Jacqui thinks he might be a little jealous of Maks."

"Yeah, no.  He and Tanith seem like they are about to get the license and name the kids."

"Maybe."

"Momma."

"Okay, I know. I'm sorry."

"Hush.  It's just all silly."

The show went very well, and it was time to say goodbye again.  She hugged her mom and dad hard again and boarded the tour bus.  Exhaustion took over, and she slept all the way to Minneapolis.  She didn't have anything to do until ice practice so she stayed in bed, ordered in food and caught up on her shows. Maks texted that blocking was going okay.  She reluctanly took a shower (lonely!), packed and got her practice clothes on.  Another Sunday, another show, another flight.  She was settling in behind the adorable lovebirds Charlie and Tanith when that delightful ding took her away.

 **Maks** 8:05 I read on Twitter that those girls dropped you! Are you okay?

 **Meryl** :  8:05 I'm fine. They didn't really drop me.  I hit an awkward edge at the end of the lift and fell, but I'm fine.

 **Maks** : 8:06 I swear to god.

 **Meryl** :  8:06 Seriously, I'm fine.

She rubbed her hip. It was a little sore, but nothing really.

 **Maks** :  8:07  Are you coming over here when you land?

 **Meryl** : 8:08  Should I?

 **Maks** :  8:08  Meryl.

 **Meryl** :  8:09 :)

 **Maks** : 8:09 Yes.

 

 

 


	20. Chapter 20

Charlie and Sharna:  Week 8, part 2

 

Charlie

 

His heart sank when he got off the elevator alone in that hotel in Chicago.  He knew it was coming, he had suspected it from the way they were acting in the airports and on the plane, but the confirmation that it was really going on, and she was really staying in his room hit him in the gut.  No, he had no right to feel this way.  That made it worse.  He threw his bag on the bed and collapsed beside it.  Even though he knew she was asleep, he texted Tanith.  Maybe she would have her phone on since he was away.  She didn't text back.  He took a shower and got into bed.  It took him a long while to get to sleep,and when the alarm went off, his heart was still heavy.  He dragged himself out of bed.

He was getting in a van with Sharna when Tanith texted him back.

**Tanith** 7:45 Hey, sweetie! Glad you made it to Chicago!  DJ and I can't wait to see you!

**Charlie** 7:46 You, too! Love you!

Sharna was starring at her phone as well, so neither felt the need to make conversation.  They were headed to a completely separate studio from Meryl and Maks, which was both a relief and not.  He didn't want to see them together, but he also wanted to talk to Meryl.  He wanted her to be the same ol' girl; he wanted to skate with her.

They practiced the quickstep, which was challenging, but not in any way like the Latin dances had been.  They also worked on their parts of the contemporary.  Sharna high-fived him when they broke for lunch.

"This is going to be GOOD," she told him.

"I have a good feeling about it, too."

It was just the two of them at lunch that day.

"Are you just tired? You don't seem like your cheerful self.  Your dancing was great." Sharna looked at him.

"I didn't sleep well."

"It's tough all these hotel rooms.  I wonder how much sleep Meryl and Maks got." She said it with a twinkle in her eye.

He said nothing.

"You know she went to his room, right?"

"Yeah, I figured."

"Finally!"

"Yeah."

"What's the matter? We've been predicting it for weeks!"

"Nothing, good for them.  He better not hurt her."

"Charlie! You know Maks, he's over the moon for her."

"She doesn't have the best track record with picking guys, that's all."

"They're not getting engaged or anything.  Jeez, dude. Protective, right?"

"Yes.  I keep wanting her to fall for the male version of Tanith. "

Sharna laughed at this.

"That would be her total opposite."

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked her.

"Tanith and Meryl could not be more different."

"That's not true! They're really quite alike."

"They're female and they're ice dancers.  Their personalities are diametrical."

"You think so?"

"Uh, yeah.  Tanith is very much like you.  You and Meryl work on the ice because you are so different.  You're the classic yin and yang."

"I don't know. That avacado tomato looks amazing. "

"Okay, change in subject!"

"Yeah."  He laughed.

 

He was so relieved to get to the venue and see everyone, but especially Tanith and DJ.  He wrapped them both in his arms.

"Hey, I'm staying with you until the end now." She laughed.

"I know, you have no idea how much I missed you."

"I do."

He skated briefly with DJ and then with Meryl, and as he suspected, it was just like always.  She said nothing about her change in circumstance.  She was his old Meryl, on the ice and with all of their loved ones.  He loved her attachment to DJ. It made him feel like once they were done with dancing and back in Michigan, everything would go back to normal with them.  The thought of Maks moving to Michigan made him chuckle.  No way.

Tanith had permission to go with them on the bus to Minnesota, and they spent every moment together until it was time for the show in Minneapolis.  They held hands boarding the charter back to LA.

 

Sharna

 

She was reunited with Maks at the airport.

"Bye, Chicago.  I still hardly know ye." She laughed.

"I know, I want to come back for a week. This city is amazing."

She looked at him with a massive grin.

"Quit smiling at me." He was trying to maintain a grumpy mien, but failing.

"I won't."  She was still smiling.

"She'll dump me in a week."

"No, you're not going to be gloomy about this."  She side-hugged him in the seat.  "She's crazy about you."

"She's just crazy."

"Stop it. This is really, really good.  First Charlie and now you.  I need Meryl around so we can celebrate."

"What do you mean, 'first Charlie'?"

She sighed.  "He was weird about it."

"How so?"

Ugh, she hoped she wasn't stepping in it here.

"You know how protective he is of her."

"Yeah, protective," He said with a bit of a sneer.

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing.  You know I have nothing but love for Charlie."

"What am I missing?" She sounded truly baffled.

"Meryl and Charlie, you know, they're not the straightforward platonic partners they try and convince everyone they are."

"What?  How do you know?"

"She told me the first week.  They haven't had an affair or anything; close your mouth--flies will get in."

"I'm aghast.  What about Tanith?"

"What about her? Charlie loves her, but he also kind of loves Meryl.  And _I'm_ the asshole."  He laughed at that one.  "Trust me, now that you've taken the red pill, you'll see things differently.  Watch him watch her."

"And Meryl loves _him_?"

"If I'm an optimist, I say she's on the road away from him.  But I'm not, of course."

"And she had a boyfriend, until, like, ten minutes ago."

"They broke up in January.  I don't get the feeling that it was serious."

"Huh.  I think I want the blue pill."

"Sorry, too late.  You're not going to tell Charlie?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm going to forget I ever heard it.  Oh, Maks."  She really hugged him this time.

"Hey, don't get me wrong, I love the turn it's taken.  I'm going to do everything I can to fully win her over."

"I'm on Team Maks, of course."

"Sank you."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	21. Chapter 21

Meryl:  Week 8, Part 3

 

About an hour before they would land at LAX, Meryl's phone resounded that delightful ding.

 

**Linda** :  7:45  Maksim Chmerkovskiy is here to pack a bag for you.  Is that okay?

**Meryl** 7:46  Yes, thank you for letting him in.  I guess I won't see you until after the show tomorrow. 

**Linda** :  7:47  Okay, dear.  I'm sending some food with him.

**Meryl**   7:48  Thank you, Linda. :)

 

Meryl took a minute to be grateful for these people who took care of her.  She pictured Maks picking out underwear for her (!) and leaving that house she had come to love with a bag and to-go containers of vegan cooking.  She felt very loved.

She said goodnight to Charlie and Tanith at the airport and gave her driver directions to Maks's apartment.  He was waiting for her in front of the gate, and grabbed her suitcase from the back.

"Hey," she fell into him.  He kissed the top of her head.

"Come eat some falafel, it's delicious."

"Is Val here?"

"Yes, but he's promised to be nice."

"Kind of awkward."

"Nah, just come on."

They schlepped her things into the apartment.  Val was nice.  The falafel was delicious.  Fruit salad, too, which was even better.

"Thanks for getting my stuff."

"I wanted to save a trip to Malibu in the morning.  I hope I got what you need."

"I'm sure it's fine."  An examination of the bag charmed her immediately.  Comfy underwear, jammies and practice clothes to wear into the studio tomorrow.  Nothing overtly sexy. He even found a clean workout bra.  Impressive.

In the process of getting ready for bed, she realized she had a substantial bruise on her hip from her fall, which he insisted on icing.  He put her on her side in the bed and placed the ice pack wrapped in a towel on her hip.  He lay behind her and rubbed her shoulders while kissing her softly on her back.  In very little time, she was ready to ditch the ice and crawl all over him.  So she did.

They awoke jarringly to the alarm and stumbled into the shower.  Thank goodness each brother had his own bathroom.  She planted herself on him for most of it, almost dozing against his chest.  He got out before her so she could wash her hair and she missed him immediately.  How had she showered all by herself all those years? She checked herself for being pathetic.  Good lord, Davis.

"Is arriving together going to be a thing?" Meryl asked him while they were in line for coffee.

"Shouldn't be. Fewer cameras at the recording studio."

"Not that it matters that much."

"Really?"

"It won't be a secret forever."

"I think we should wait until after the show to say anything official."

"I agree," she took her tea from him.

The hair process was much less complicated that the week before, and the costume was much more comfortable. 

"Can we style like this every week?"

"Works for me."

Their rumba dress rehearsal went well.  The props were perfectly chosen; lots of metal so when she swept the table with her hand, it made a huge crash.  Maks encouraged her to really go for the slap so that sound would reverberate, too.  She loved this dance.  Loved it.  It was Maks's artistic vision from start to finish, but he had involved her in every step of the process, and they had worked on intention and expression like an acting exercise. It really was a dialogue between them the whole way.  Every piece of choreography had a separate intention behind it.  She knew every nuance of the story.  They had started working on this in their down time last Monday and it had really intensified by Tuesday.  She wore a skirt everyday to practice to really get into the character.  Tuesday, she and Maks had sat down and had a long conversation about the relationship between the two characters.

"Have you ever been in a tumultuous relationship?" He asked her.

"No," she answered.

"How is that possible? How many boyfriends have you had?"

"Nosy."

"Extremely."

"Well, I've had...more than a few, I guess.  Several in college.  I was with Fedor for three years."

"Three _years_?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't very serious.  The breakup was the least shocking thing ever."

"How are you with someone for three years not seriously?"

"We were mostly just dating.  We went on vacation together every year, which was nice.  We slept over at each other's places occasionally, but both of us preferred to end up in our own beds.  We have lots of common interests, but no abiding love, obviously."

"Have you ever been in love? Not counting Charlie."

"Maks, I can't even say that I was in love with Charlie, because being in love implies reciprocation, I think.  No, I haven't been in love.  I was pretty moony over my first serious boyfriend, Marco from Torino," she went full-out Italian on that, "but we broke up when his year abroad was up, and it took me about ten minutes to get over. You've been in love?"

"Yes, and it was tumultuous.  Understatement.  I got my heart stomped on.  That was years ago."

"I'm sorry."  And there was true sorrow in her tone.

"Well, I'm over it now!" He laughed.

"That's good. I don't want to think about it."

He pulled her into a hug and kissed her head.  She loved this go-to.

With every step, they talked about what each character was feeling and why each had moved in a certain way. It made Meryl reevaluate her years of training when Marina would try to convey what the characters would do here and here.  They had taken acting classes and learned to think like their characters, but it had never been as natural that this process with Maks.  Marina would work and work with Charlie, talking to him endlessly about what the Hunchback felt and what the King in Scheherazade felt.  This type of expression came much more naturally to Meryl, and not as much attention had been paid to her.  She had never been resentful of this.  She had been relieved, actually that she was spared the long coaching sessions Charlie endured about feeling this and feeling that.  But she wondered now how much better she could have been in those programs if she had put in the work that she and Maks were doing now. 

By that Monday rehearsal, Meryl felt more ready to dance than any of the others she had done with Maks. The samba was still not great, but she fell back on Maks's caveat--at least they could look sexy.

Rehearsals had a weird vibe.  No one was happy that the Dance Moms woman was the guest judge.  She had watched every performance and took copious notes.  It seemed like she was going to have a lot to say.  The whole cast pulled together to try to get through the show with as good an attitude as possible, though.  There was no tension between them.  Maks and Danica were getting along wonderfully to Meryl's relief.

The show itself played out exactly as they predicted.  That woman killed the joy whenever she could.  Certain performances rose above it, especially Charlie and Sharna's two, which were both triumphs. Amy's dances were amazing, as were Candace's, especially the contemporary with Charlie.  From start to finish, the rumba was everything Meryl hoped it would be.  The audience gasped in all the right places, and they seemed awed and appreciative by the end.  Maks carried her to the judges.

"That was the best dance I have ever done on this show, anywhere." He kissed her face.

"It was my favorite.  Thank you." She wrapped her arms tightly around him.

Of all people, Bruno truly got what they had done.  The other regulars were complimentary as well.  They were bothered by the contemporary feel, as Maks had predicted, but they were mostly pleased.  The other woman railed Meryl for her feet, a criticism she had heard before and was mostly unable to do anything about because of the physiology of her feet.  Ballet teachers for years had bemoaned her "beautiful lines being ruined by those terrible feet."  What could she do? She had Flintstone feet.  They were study blocks in skates that had served her well for years. 

"I don't care." She said to him on the stairs.

"I'm erasing it." He answered.

Erin went for the kill,and Maks gave them the soundbite they wanted.  Meryl refused to let any of it ruin the rumba.  Even the badly scored samba.  Even being squarely at the bottom.  Even Val and Danica being eliminated. 

The press line was arduous.  They kept having to talk about that woman.  At one point Meryl's sassiness emerged and she called her out as diplomatically as possible.  She got a fan question about her depth perception issue, which was annoying.  Her mother had talked about it in an interview last year, and since then, Meryl kept getting asked about it.  It was something she had dealt with and largely overcome years ago.  Maks seemed shocked and a little offended that he had no idea.  Seriously, if it was a big deal, I would have told you about it.  That awful woman actually wiped her face on Maks's samba shirt when they were being interviewed in proximity to her. What the actual fuck?

When they were finished, they stood looking at each other like they had survived an ordeal, which they had.

"Do you want to stay over in Malibu? We can run on the beach in the morning, and it's away from the craziness," she asked him. 

"Will your landlords mind?"

"Of course not."

"Let's go."

They booked it out of there, pausing very briefly to throw a congratulatory look Charlie and Sharna's way as they passed.  Because of their low scores, this could be their last week.  Meryl was going to try to enjoy every minute.

 

 

 


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which we take a decided turn into adultville. If you are not cool with that, you should skip this one.

Meryl and Maks:  Week 9, Part 1

 

**Meryl**

 

"Hi, Meryl."

"Hi." 

Maks had purposefully arrived at rehearsal ten minutes before her on Tuesday.  They had awoken, gone for a run, showered, eaten breakfast and then strategically planned their arrival.  So crafty.

Maks was listening to their jive music.

"Elvis?"

He grabbed her and started teaching jive technique.  From week one, Maks had a consistent process:

1\. Listen to the song.

2.  Teach the basic technique.

3.  Work on bits of choreography that may or may not make the final cut.

4.  Swear copiously and declare it hopeless.

5.  Style the program.

6.  Have a eureka moment.

7.  Save the day.

It worked perfectly until it didn't. By Wednesday morning, she was feeling like it might be the latter.

Meryl couldn't read competently until she was half way through the third grade.  Then, and now, it was her greatest humiliation and it spurred her greatest fears.  She and her mother spent hours at the kitchen table drilling sight words, working on phonics, figuring out strategies to fake it until she overcame it.  She didn't know if this experience was a cause or a symptom of her need to be over-prepared for everything she did.  But she lived the idea that success came from preparation.  Charlie was not as fanatical about it, but he was generally the same way.  Throughout their career, teams had out-talented them, out-danced them, out-skated them.  But no one had ever out-worked them. 

It wasn't that Maks lacked work ethic.  He worked as hard as she did; it was that their processes were diametrically apposed.  If she were in charge, she would come in with back-up plans and diagrams.  She wasn't in charge, and she wasn't skilled enough to help him.

In the first few weeks, his process worked beautifully.  One minute dances flowed out of him.  He would move a certain way, and then the whole thing would come together in his mind and he would spin her around gleefully.

"Yes!  This is going to be amazing! This is going to be epic!"  And it was, every time.

They hit a snag tango week.  The end result was better than they could have imagined, but between his rising anxiety and her mental block, it was a struggle. They breezed by the next two weeks, salsa was just fun, and he was so inspired by the rumba that he had no doubts throughout the whole process.  She guessed that their scores and position had unnerved him this week.  The jive came along fairly easily, but the Viennese Waltz seemed to be eating his lunch. They were in the weeds.

 

**Maks**

 

It was her whispering that set him off.  You know they can hear you.  You have a microphone. Just say it, just say it, just motherfucking say it. It's hopeless, it's a failure, it's not going to work.  Slap me, yell at me, walk out the door.  But don't look at me like that.  Don't whisper, goddamnit.  ROAR!

 

**Meryl**

 

She was startled but not frightened when he threw the mic pack.  She didn't think he was throwing it at her.  Scott Moir had thrown enough skates against the boards to make her used to such outbursts.  She was almost relieved he had acted out so ridiculously, they could get past the tension, hug it out, and move closer to the Eureka moment that must come.  That did come!  Eureka! By the time they left on Wednesday afternoon, both dances were on the road to brilliance.  He's a genius.

Miraculously, the apartment was empty that night.  Val had plans that would keep him away for hours.  There were no east coasters about at the moment.  She was so turned on by Maks, by his energy, by his brilliance, by his anger and passion she could hardly wait until they stepped in the door.  She threw herself against him. She yanked his tank top over his head--as far as she could reach, anyway. She jumped on him.

 

**Maks**

What the fuck? 

"Babe, do you want to go into my room?" He gasped against her mouth.

"No, this is perfect," she gasped back. She was removing his pants and underwear in one swoop and then stripped her own.  He slipped her top over her head, and she yanked her bra off.  She threw her arms around his neck, so he picked her up. She wrapped her legs around him, so he fucked her against the entrance wall.  She was so tiny he could hold her with one arm, which left a hand free to help her along.  She moaned and bit his neck. He plowed her hard into the wall.  Maybe too hard?

"Maks, oh my god!"

Maybe not.  She came rather dramatically, which set him off, too.  She gripped him tightly pressing their torsos together, and they collapsed to the floor.  Her heart was beating fast against his chest, and she was kissing his neck where she had bitten him just a minute before.

"Sorry about that," she breathed against him.

"That was so hot."

"It was _so_ hot.  I'm a lucky girl."

His heart swelled.  Boy, he was easy.

"Race you to the shower!" And she sprang up, energized and trotted into his bathroom. 

"Watch the toe!" He gathered their discarded clothing just in case Val made an appearance, and then joined her.  She fell against him, as she was wont to do as the water fell on them.

Later, he uncorked a bottle of wine while they sat at the kitchen table and waited for a pizza they had ordered.  She had her hair wrapped up in a towel and was wearing a t-shirt with a Hobbit on it and a pair of tiny bright red shorts.  He guessed he would need at least a couple of years to figure her out.

"Babe, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure.  This is really good wine, by the way."

"Why do I never see that side of you, the side that attacked me just inside the door, at practice?"

"Well, there are a million cameras..." she laughed, and blushed just a little.

"That's not what I mean.  The last two days at practice, you are so...hesitant? So...unconfident..."

"So fucking timid?

"Sorry about that, but yeah."

"It takes me a lot of time to be comfortable with our dances.  You know that.  I think by the time we perform..."

"By the time we perform you are a full-on star, I'm just thinking there must be something going on in your head..."

"You have your work process, I have mine."

"But I'm having a hard time...reconciling these two sides of you."

"Really."

"Yes."  She had an expression he couldn't read, but he had a suspicion she was about to let him have it.

 

**Meryl**

For weeks before she finally had the courage to wrap her legs around Maks in the greenroom at _Access Hollywood_ , Meryl had given much thought about sex with him.  Most of the images were very similar to the one that had played out this day in his entry way.  She pictured them in an out of the way corner at the rehearsal studio or in an airplane bathroom or in the backseat of his car.  She was not prepared to be gently carried to bed.  To be kissed long after she was perfectly willing to move on the the main event.  To be caressed and told repeatedly how beautiful she was. She should have guessed that he would be that way based on how he treated her throughout this process--with some obvious exceptions that seemed to arise only when they were trying to learn a new dance--based on how...nurturing he was.  She really should have guessed.

She got out of her chair, walked a few steps to him and sat in his lap.

"You know, you could throw things around in the bedroom and whisper in my ear at practice."

 

**Maks**

 

She had a point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	23. Chapter 23

Charlie:  Week 9, Part 1

 

Charlie awoke to Tanith by his side on her iPad.  He grabbed her, pulled her over and kissed her.

"Morning."

"Morning to you." Tanith looked radiant in the morning light streaming in their hotel room.  

"Watcha doin'?"  

"Looking at counter tops.  I can't decide between these two." She passed over the tablet.

"They look the same to me.  Didn't we already decide on this anyway?"

"I don't love the ones we chose.  I'm still looking."

"We'll have the best looking kitchen in the 'burbs."

"Don't call it that."

"What?"

"The 'burbs.  It's dismissive."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's snobbish.  I love our new home.  I can't wait to move in."

"I can't either; is that in question?"  He kissed her again, but she turned away after perfunctory contact. "Tanith, I love it, too.  I'm so excited about moving.  I'm so proud of you for handling all yourself; I'm just sorry you had to.  The location is perfect."

"You promise?"

"Of course."

"I'm sorry.  I guess I'm just feeling stressed with all the paperwork, and you having to sign everything here.  We just had to jump on this one."

"I totally agree."

"And you're not mad about me leaving this week?  I promise I'll be back for the finals, but I have to meet with the contractor in person, and I need to put in some time at the rink."

"No problem.  We're going to be so busy with two dances this week and the California shows."

"I bet Sharna is happy not having to fly across the country."

"Yeah, it's going to be different.  No charter flight on Sunday from San Jose."

"Oh, what will you do having to fly commercial?" She teased him.

"I know, it's ridiculous, but it's been so nice boarding a plane and just taking off."

"So Sharna's staying here the whole time?"

"Yeah, we're driving back and forth to San Diego, and then we're going to San Jose on the tour bus Saturday night after the Anaheim show.  Sharna and Maks have to be at camera block on Sunday."

"So what's new in the Meryl 'n Maks show?"  Tanith had a slightly mocking tone.

"Major developments and shared hotel rooms.  Well, one shared room, but I assume they are carrying on here."

"What?  Why are you just telling me now?  This is headline news!"

"When was I supposed to tell you, on the flight last night with Meryl in the next isle?"

"Yes!"

"Eh, it looks like the typical Davis fling to me."

"The last Davis fling lasted three years."

"Why are we talking about this?  I only have about fifteen minutes until I have to get ready for rehearsal. Come here."

 

Charlie arrived at rehearsal ten minutes late with an extra bounce in his step, which he figured would help with the samba. Sharna had been there for an hour, and had both dances completely choreographed.  They flew through the foxtrot and slogged through Samba.  It was as if they looked for a dance he would be the least apt at, and then paired it with the most unlikely Charlie song they could find.  He thought it was hilarious.  Sharna couldn't help laughing, too. 

"What if we went completely against the theme and danced it dressed like tourists or something?" He suggested.

"The judges wouldn't get it."

"Are the judges going to get me doing a hip hop samba?"

"More than they would a high concept.  Unless I was Derek.  Paul is going to come in and help up with the hip-hop choreo." 

"That will be great."

"Yeah, maybe Tanith can come out with us after."

"She's going back to Michigan for house stuff."

"Bummer."

"She'll be back for the finals."

"I hope we'll be back for the finals."

"What? We're at the top this week."

"I have a bad feeling."

"I don't think I want to hear this."

"No, you probably don't."

"But now you have to tell me," he shook her shoulders.

"Well...Maks and Meryl put out that rumba, which everyone probably loved, and then they get the comments and score from the guest judge.  I just have a feeling that the typical Davis and White voter probably tried to save her last night."

"And thought we were safe because of the the perfect score."

"Exactly."

"That does sound plausible."

"Now, let's put it out of our minds and dance," she laughed and took his hand.

"Mo money, mo problems, it seems prophetic."

"I hope not."

 

He met up with Meryl later because the Team USA folks were there to interview the three Olympians and their partners.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"So, what's new with you," he teased her.

"Nothing," she giggled and blushed.

"You have the worst poker face."

"I know."

"Well, you seem happy."

"I'm extremely stressed!"

Just then, Maks walked in the door.  Charlie stormed out of his chair toward him.

"Maks!" He yelled at Meryl's partner and walked toward him like he was going to throw a punch.  Maks had about 10 different expressions in rapid succession from fear to confusion to guilt back to fear.

"How's it goin', bro?" Charlie slapped him on the back and laughed.  "Your face!"

Maks collapsed into a squat and put his head in his hands. "Oh my god.  Charlie was going to hit me.  I lost about three years there."  He stood up and slapped Charlie back.  Meryl galloped over to Charlie and smacked him in the arm while laughing uncontrollably.

"Please tell me they got that on camera," she gasped.

"Please tell me they didn't.  I almost pissed myself." Maks replied.

"As I was saying, Charlie, it's been a stressful day," Meryl said, putting her arm around Maks and trying to control herself.

"Hey, at least you don't have hip hop samba.  I don't want to hear about it!"

"Samba is good.  You can samba." Maks took Charlie into hold and started leading him in basic samba steps. "One-a-and-a-two-and-a..."

Meryl ran to get Sharna and when the women returned Charlie and Maks were sambaing around the floor.  Maks broke hold and got behind Charlie and put his hands on Charlie's hips.

"Like this a bop and this a bop and this a bop and this a bop..." He maneuvered Charlie's hips. "Perfect! Keep it up." They got back into hold and Charlie danced with free hips.

"I think they're going to win the whole thing," said Sharna.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A video of Maks and Charlie dancing the samba would make my life.


	24. Chapter 24

Meryl:  Week 9, Part 2

 

"They are very nice and very odd."  Maks and Meryl were getting ready for bed in Malibu Thursday after spending the evening with Ed and Linda.  The couple had made a lovely vegan Thai dinner and showed them home videos of their trips to Thailand.  Meryl and Maks had in turn danced their Elvis and Priscilla jive for them in the back yard.

"They are a bit odd, well he is," Meryl replied, "but I really, really like them."

"It was smart to get a place out here.  It's so quiet."

"After seeing nothing but my condo and the rink for a year, I couldn't face a permanent hotel situation.  We were in Sochi, which is so beautiful, and I wanted to be by the water and be in a real neighborhood."

He was stretched across the bed in his tank top and underwear.  Meryl, in a bra and dance shorts, climbed over him, and he pulled her in so her head was on his chest.  The window was open, and a breeze and the evening sounds came in.  The curtain danced about her feet.  Maks turned off the lamp.

"So they have no children?" 

"No, they met in their fifties.  Neither had been married or had kids before." Meryl traced his leg lazily with her foot.

"I wonder if they wish they had met thirty years earlier?" 

"I don't know.  She was a magazine writer, and he was a photo-journalist.  I think their careers were their focus when they were younger.  But they've been married for almost thirty years."

"Wow." He was caressing her arm with his thumb. "What is your parents' marriage like?"

"As far as I know, it's great.  They don't fight.  My mother has been away quite a bit in the last few years following us around with Jacqui, which I don't think my dad loved, but they seem generally happy.  He'll probably work until he's eighty-five or so."

"It's hard for me to imagine a family with no fighting."

"Well, just because there is no fighting doesn't mean there's no tension.  My dad has no trouble expressing disapproval or disappointment.  He's great, though.  He's very matter of fact, tell it like it is, no bullshit.  It's comforting.  What about your folks?"

"My folks--that's so American, you're so..."

"Midwestern is the word you're looking for." She laughed.

"Yeah, American heartland."

"Okay, I'm from the Detroit 'burbs, I'm not a farm girl. Anyway, about your parents?"  
  
"They're still together after thirty-five years. They fight about everyday stuff, but they pull together in a crisis.  They were teenagers when they got married, so it's a miracle that they've lasted all these years."

"Yeah, they look so young."

"When they were my age, I was sixteen.  Can you imagine me with a sixteen year old?"

"Oh my god. That is crazy.  Good for them, though."

"Do you want children?"

"Eventually. You?"

"Yes."  They were silent for a minute.  Meryl was so comfortable, she was thinking of drifting off.  "We probably should have had this conversation a week ago, but, you know, about..."

"Birth control?  You know I'm on the pill." He had gone with her to the pharmacy in the early days of training while she was trying to figure out where all the essentials were. 

"Yes, but we probably should have talked about...you know..."

"Condoms?  You are surprisingly prim.  It's adorable."

"Okay. Yes, we should have talked about them."

"We've used them except that one time.  But, seriously Maks, you've had one girlfriend in the past year, and you know my situation; I think we're okay.  I've never had a pregnancy scare."

"Well, you don't want to have one."

She could tell from his tone it was not a subject he wanted to expound upon.  

"I've been on the pill since I was sixteen--for the record that was years before I actually needed birth control, I was having some issues, TMI, but anyway I've never missed a pill.  I'm ridiculously type A about it.  I have an alarm on my phone so I take one every twenty-four hours no matter what time zone I'm in.

"Shocking." He laughed.

"I know."

"So YEARS after you were sixteen?"

"Yes."

"Years and years?"

"I'm not going to tell you if you're going to be mean about it." 

"Twenty-five?"

She smacked him in the arm.  "Twenty-five?  I'm twenty-seven now.  No, nineteen."

"Nineteen is not YEARS."

"I didn't say YEARS" she mocked him with a giggle.  "I said years.  As in three years."

"Nineteen is still pretty old." He flipped her around so that he was on top of her, mock pinning her down, holding on to both wrists.

"I was living with Cheryl and Paul and being a good girl.  Then I went to college.  I assume you had a full beard and were bringing the ladies around at fourteen?"

"That's pretty close, actually."

"Shocking." She gripped him with her legs and flipped him around so she was on top.  "Then I would think you could say the word _condom_ without blushing."

"I have a condom in my bag.  There."

"Good, then grab it."

 

On Saturday they rehearsed the two dances until both felt ready to go. There was no trace of the early stress, both were beautiful, and Meryl and Maks left feeling confident.  They headed over to Maks's apartment for lunch before Meryl had to be in Anaheim for the ice show.  They were eating on the deck, and he pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of her wearing his hat.

"What's that little smirk?" He asked her.

"Our dances are amazing."

"And?"

"I'll be back here before midnight."

"That's what I thought."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not Chekhov's birth control, by the way. There will be no unplanned Maksyl babies in this. There are some adorable baby fics on Tumblr, though.


	25. Chapter 25

Charlie, Week 9, Part 2

 

Charlie was on a mission to find snacks when he saw on the monitor that their flight had been delayed for three hours.  He returned to where Meryl was sitting to tell her the bad news.  A small consolation of being stuck in the San Jose airport for the rest of the night was that they hadn't had much of a chance to talk lately, and he was happy to spend some time with her.  Of course, when he saw her sitting there, she was engrossed in her phone. 

"Flight delay," he said bluntly.

"How long?"

"Until 1:30 A.M."

"Unacceptable."  She pitched her phone into her bag, which she slung over her shoulder and marched to the desk.  A bored and tired looking young woman was staring at a computer screen.

"Hi.  I just found out our flight is delayed, and we have to be back in LA sooner than that.  We are taping a live show in less than twenty-four hours, so we need to get on a flight as soon as possible.  Will you please check all available flights leaving for LA?"

"Do you have checked luggage?"

"Yes, we have to check our skates."

"It's going to be hard to transfer flights with already checked luggage."

"So there is a flight? Hard or impossible?"

"Yes, there is one leaving at 10:45.  The luggage will be tricky. Hold on."

"I really appreciate it."

"Okay, let me have your tickets."  Meryl slapped hers on the counter.

"Charlie?"  He added his.

"Yep, we can get you on, I've messaged the baggage guys, they're going to transfer your bags.  You might want to say a little prayer about that, though."

"Thank you so much!" Meryl's face lit up.  Charlie thought she might kiss the woman.

"No problem.  Good luck with your show."  Charlie loved it that this person had no idea who they were or what show they were on. He and Meryl waked quickly to the waiting area of the other flight.

"Way to go, Ms. Chmerkovskiy."

"Who knew I had it in me! Maks will be so proud."

No doubt.  Heck, he was proud of her.  Meryl had always had a quiet fierceness that not everyone saw right off, but quiet was key.  The woman he saw emerging was different than the one who had been terrified of losing at the Olympics and who had texted him in the middle of the night for a year.  He was proud and a little sad.

When they were buckled into their seats on the small commuter, he looked over at her and she was still smiling.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I'm just excited to be on this plane."

"Are you ready for tomorrow?"

"No!"  She laughed.

"You are not a good liar."

"Why does everyone think I am lying?  I'm so nervous for tomorrow.  We're probably going home."

"I doubt it."

"Are _you_ ready?"

"I guess.  Sharna texted that the blocking went well.  Maybe I can pay Artem to put on a blond wig and dance hip hop samba for me."

"Mmmmmm, Artem."

"I'm going to tell on you."

"Maks agrees, don't you?"

"Yes."  He laughed.

"Did you know he had thing with Carrie Ann?"

"That's the world's oldest gossip, Merle."

"I guess I'm behind."

"Anything new on your Kindle?"

"Oh, Charlie.  I haven't read since February.  I started _Anna Karenina_ in Sochi, and I'm still on chapter six."

"I haven't read anything, either. Any time I start, I just fall asleep."

"Same. All I'm going to do in June is read, sleep and eat."

"That sounds so amazing."  He drank his orange juice.  "Do you think Maks is going to show up and surprise you on vacation?"

"In Hawaii?  No.  All he wants to do is go home. They have a big studio show in July."

"I wouldn't be that surprised."

"He's not going to.  My parents will be there."

"But you would love him to."

She smiled. "It wouldn't be the worst thing ever."

"I heard about the mic throwing incident."  He looked at her.

"What did you hear?"

"That he threw his mic across the room in anger, and you flinched."

"Oh, seriously.  Here's the deal.  His mic fell out of the back of his pants and was dangling down his leg.  We were right in a critical moment, he was in the middle of choreographing, and he just grabbed it and threw it down.  It was no big thing. I was not scared."

"He's a hot head, though."

"You say that, but you have never seen him lose his temper."

"Right, just on tape, but I've heard about it."

"Charlie. You should judge him on what you know to be true and that I trust him."

"Meryl, I like Maks. It's just--you shouldn't defend his bad behavior."

"I'm telling you..."

"Right.  Fine."

She let it go.  He almost wished she would keep fighting with him.  Now she was just quiet.

"I mean, if you have a thing for hot heads, Scott has been ready and willing all these years."

She laughed.  Mission Accomplished.

"No, thank you."

"He lacks Maks's mystery and Russian flair?"

"Look at Scott and then look at Maks."

"I happen to think Scott is very good looking.  Dashing, even."

"You and every woman in Canada."

"But not you?"

"No, he's a little weasel with weaselly ways.  That's not nice.  I'm sorry."

"If he's a weasel, Tessa is..."

"A fox, obviously."

"Tessa is beautiful. I sometimes would look at her and wonder if she was real."

"Says the guy who lives with a supermodel. Charlie, Tanith is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

"She is."

Meryl snuggled into him. The plane was beginning to land.  "That was quick," he said.

"I miss you, Charlie.  I'm going to miss you."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"I know, but it's not the same."

"It is."

"Okay."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the subtitle of this thing clearly should be "Many Conversations by Several People on Many Planes." It's not what I set out to write; it just happened. I will defend it by noting that the travel is a huge part of their story, albeit one that has largely been ignored by the producers of the show.


	26. Chapter 26

THE WHOLE THING WITH THE BOOBS

A Play in Four Acts

 

Cast of Characters:

 

**Meryl Davis** :  A woman in her mid to late twenties

**Maksim Chmerkovskiy** : a man in his mid-thirties

**Sylvia** :  older woman; costumer

**Charlie White** : a man in his mid-twenties

**Cheryl Davis** : Meryl's mother

**Clayton Davis** : Meryl's slightly younger brother

 

Scene:  The sound-stage where _Dancing with the Stars_ tapes, Los Angeles

Time:  May 2014

 

 

Act I

 

Setting: The costuming department.  The curtain rises on **Sylvia** sitting at a sewing table, hemming a pair of pants. **Maksim** , or **Maks** as he will be referred  to subsequently, is standing upstage right.  He is nervous.  He keeps looking at an area of the room upstage left, hidden by a curtain.

 

**Meryl** : _from behind the curtain, shrieking_   Maks!

**Maks** :  _turning to **Sylvia**_   Sylvia, what have you done?

**Sylvia** : _shrugging_   You said, "Give her tits." I gave her tits.

**Maks** :  Could you leave us for a moment, please, Sylvia.

**Sylvia** :  _shrugging_   It's my break anyway.

**Maks** :  Baby, come out.

**Meryl** :  I can't.  My brother is going to be at this show!

**Maks** : It can't be that bad.

_**Meryl** comes out from behind the curtain.  She is wearing a sweater and a short skirt.  She walks to center stage, crosses her arms in front of her and stares at **Maks.  Maks** pauses for many seconds as many different expressions cross his face.  Finally he speaks._

**Maks** :  I seem to have put myself in a lose-lose situation.  If I admire them, I'm...

**Meryl** :  an asshole.

**Maks** :  If I ignore them, I'm...

**Meryl** :  an idiot.

Curtain

 

Act II

Setting:  A lounge area in the studio.  **Charlie** sits on a sofa, pressing buttons on his phone.  **Meryl** enters from left. **Charlie** looks up, and then really looks up. 

 

**Meryl** : _loudly_   Don't say...

**Charlie** : I'm not saying a word.

 

Curtain

 

Act III

Setting:  Outside Meryl's trailer on the lot.  **Meryl** (wearing a white bathrobe), **Cheryl** and **Clayton** are standing upstage center.

 

**Cheryl** :  But I want to see your costume!

**Meryl** :  Trust me, it's ridiculous.

**Cheryl** :  Please, just let me see.

_**Meryl** drops the robe._

**Clayton** :  I'm just going to wait behind this car over here.

**Cheryl** :  Wow, Maks is really good at playing up your assets!

**Meryl** :  Mother, they're not real!

**Cheryl** :  Impressive! Can I...

**Meryl** :  No, you can't touch them!

**Clayton** : _from behind the car_   I can't hear anything.

Curtain

 

Act IV

Setting:  In the sky-box on the set, during the commercial break immediately after **Meryl** and **Maks** have danced an Elvis and Priscella jive and been awarded a perfect score for it.  **Maks** is now dressed as Elvis.

 

**Meryl** :  (whispering in Maks's ear)  We are so taking the sweater home.

 

Final Curtain

 

 

 

 

 

 


	27. Chapter 27

Meryl/Maks/Charlie/Sharna:  Week 9, Part 3

 

Because Meryl is who she is, she had every scenario of the show mapped out in her head.  Candace being declared safe was worst case.  She smiled and clapped and side-mouthed Maks, "We're in jeopardy.  Or Charlie and Sharna.  Or both.  Probably both."

Sure enough, Charlie and Sharna got the bad news.  Then they danced the best foxtrot Maks had ever seen on the show.  "This is bad, Meryl."

"I know. It's us or Charlie."

"We have to dance, we can't think about it."

"No, it's motivating.  This could be our last dances.  We have to kill it," she said in his ear.

They showed the mic throw in the package.  Of course.  "Oh, babe," he said.

"Shhhhh."

Elvis and Priscilla just let it go and danced the hell out of it.  They  got some love from the whole panel. Maks was manic.

 

As soon as Amy and Derek were called in jeopardy, Charlie and Sharna knew it was them.  Sharna's scenario had played out exactly. 

"We still have to samba," she pep-talked him.

"Of all dances," he laughed.  It went as well as it possibly could.  The judges thought it might have lacked a bit of authenticity.  You. Don't. Say.

He saw Meryl in her country Viennese Waltz get-up.

"Hashtag Pass the Puffs!"

"Right?"

"You know it's coming down to us two.  Us four."

"I know, the bastards,"  she put both forearms on his shoulders.

"Gotta love reality TV."

"We knew it would happen."

He pulled her in for a hug and then swung her around.

"Whoa, I think I'm getting the skirt."

"Oh, you haven't seen it!?"

"No, I was had to be in makeup during your rehearsal."

"Charlie, we do our layback spin! Just watch the skirt.  If Marina could have seen it, she would have insisted on the skirt."

He let go of her so she could get ready for Maks.  When he saw the waltz he was dashed.  Dashed and amazed.  It almost made him forgive Maks.

And of course they were the last two couples to find out the results, and of course he and Sharna were eliminated.  Sharna was softly crying, which killed him.  Maks hugged him. They were dragged down by Erin and he caught a glimpse of his mother, who looked devastated.  Come on, Jacqui, it's not worth it.

People all season were trying to pit him against Meryl or praise him at the expense of Meryl, or praise her and Maks at the expense of him and Sharna.  Enough.

"Team Meryl.  Love you."

He felt more relief than anything during the press run.  Sharna was so, sad, though. 

"Ready for another trek across the country?"

"No," she cried into his shoulder.

 

Meryl and Maks found out they had the Argentine Tango right before their interviews.  It gave them a nervous energy that he especially had a hard time containing.  She was relieved and yet so sad about Charlie.

"Do you want to get out of here and map out the tango?" She suggested.

"Yes, let's go."  They found some space, and within an hour, he had an outline for what they could do.  They had submitted their music for the freestyle last week and would hit it hard in the morning.

They got back to Malibu by 10:30.  They ate their late plates, lovingly saved by Linda, and headed to bed.  Meryl let Maks take the lead so they made love long and slow with the window open and the breeze flowing in.  Afterward, neither could sleep because of nerves and stress over the final week.

"When does school start for you?" Maks was tracing circles on her back, and she had her chin propped on his chest.

"Beginning of September."

"And you can't wait."

"I can't wait.  I have so many plans.  I'm going to sell my condo in Canton and move to Ann Arbor.  The real estate prices are insane there, so I'm going to get a tiny apartment close to campus I can stay in til I graduate."  She laughed quietly. "Ideally I'm going to find an Ed and Linda in Ann Arbor and rent a room in one of those beautiful old houses."

"Will they let a large Ukrainian visit on the weekends?"

"It will be my first stipulation.  Actually..."  She looked up at him nervously, "You've said you regret not going to university, you could enroll at Michigan.  You could open Dance with Me Ann Arbor!"  She said the last like she was doing a promo.

He squeezed her tight against him.  "I would love that.  I have too many obligations in New York and New Jersey.  But I've heard there are universities there."

"For me or you?"

"For us both, maybe."

"Your parents are so lucky to have such a dedicated, loyal son."

"They have given me everything."

"I know the feeling."

"Will Mr. and Mrs. Davis allow you to move out of Michigan eventually?"

"Oh, of course.  They know that it's a matter of time.  I've actually always wanted to go to New York for grad school. And then Paris, Venice, London, somewhere. That's why I have to finish this undergraduate degree as soon as possible.  I'm twenty-seven frickin years old, and I have so many plans.  If I'd finished on time, who knows were I would be."

"Without a gold medal."

"I know, I know, I'm such a brat.  I wouldn't trade my life, I really wouldn't."

"I feel the same way.  For the first time, I really feel like I'm proud of where I am, and I have so many other things that I want to do."

When she heard this, she stretched her arm across his whole chest, rolled on him so she was facing him, and kissed him.  He wrapped his arms around her narrow back, like he wouldn't let go.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A sincere thank you to pals-at-the-dal on Tumblr for all of the links and kind comments, and most especially for keeping up with the daily fanfic roll over there. I appreciate the work you put in so much!

Charlie, Week 9, Part 4

 

Another plane, another cross-country trip, this one, the red eye to New York to be interviewed on Good Morning America about their "shocking elimination." They were the only ones awake in first class.  Charlie was hoping that they could both sleep, but their minds were still whirring around from the show.  Sharna was still a little bit weepy, and Charlie tried to console her. It was apparent to him that she was more invested in the whole thing than he had ever been, which made him feel sad and more than a little guilty.

"I keep thinking about it, and running through everything, wondering what I could have done differently," she said.

"Sharna, I love our dances.  There is nothing I would change about them.  It was a fluke; there was nothing you could have done.  If Meryl had gotten high scores last week, we probably still both be in."

"Every time I think about it more, I remember more things to be disappointed about.  Freestyle, Viennese Waltz, Argentine Tango."

Charlie's phone dinged.

 

 **Tanith** 1:45 Can't sleep.  Love you.

 **Charlie**   1:47 We're flying over the Rockies.  Love you, too!  Don't forget to tape GMA in the morning.

 **Tanith** 1:48  I'm in denial. :(

 

"Is that Tanith?  Tell her I'm soooooo sorry."  That set off a new round of tears.  Charlie put his arm around her, and Sharna settled in against her.

"It's okay.  You have to stop crying or you really will have red eyes for our interview.  Here's a joke my niece texted me:  What did the digital clock say to his mother?"

"What?"

"Look Ma, no hands!"

She smiled and dabbed her eyes.

"No more crying because I have plenty more."

They sat quietly for a few minutes.

"Charlie? "

"Yeah?"

"You know I love you and Tanith."

"Yes, and we love you and Paul.  I think we'll always be friends.  That's the best thing that has come out of this whole thing."

"You are going to propose to her soon, aren't you?"

Charlie was planning on proposing very soon, but he hadn't talked to anyone about, and he didn't want to.  He wanted Tanith to be the first to know.

"I don't have any specific plans." Lie.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it.  There's just something I feel like I need to say to you."

Charlie removed his arm, sat up, looked at her and braced himself for this.

"I don't think you should propose until you've worked out your feelings about Meryl.  It's not fair to any of you."

He had a completely baffled look on his face.  "What are you talking about?"

"Charlie."

"What?"

She looked at him intently, drawing him in, making him talk, totally trapping him.

"Do you mean about the _I love you_ thing?  It's the same way with you, I love you.  It doesn't have anything to do with what I have with Tanith." 

"It's has nothing to do with that." 

He tried to figure out where this was all coming from.  "Did Meryl say something to you?"

"No. It's the way you look at her, and the way you act when she and Maks are together."

"Sharna, you have misread the situation."

"Okay."  There was a long pause.

"I'm not thrilled about the Maks thing, but that has nothing to do with feelings for Meryl."

"I said okay."

"I just don't understand why you are bringing this up."

"Meryl said something to Maks at the very beginning, and he said something to me."

"Perfect."  He laughed with unsmiling eyes.  "That's just perfect.  That asshole just doesn't quit."

"Charlie, that's not fair.  He wasn't saying it to be an arsehole.  He's concerned about Meryl having feelings for you.  He really likes her."

"Well, you can reassure him that there's nothing going on."

"Nobody thinks that."

"Then what are we talking about?"

"Charlie, I'm sorry.  I'm not saying this to upset you.  You're like a brother to me, I really do love you that much, and I think you need to consider all of this carefully before you move forward."

They sat in silence for an extended time.  She kept looking at him.  It was irritatingly effective in getting him to talk.

"Training for the Olympics...it's crazy.  Meryl and I relied on each other physically and emotionally every day, well, for years, but especially the last two years.  I guess it was impossible for those...emotions not to spill over some.  And we crossed lines at times that shouldn't have been crossed--nothing serious.  But truly, it has nothing to do with what Tanith and I have."

Sharna still didn't say anything, goddamnit.

"Meryl doesn't even think of me in that way.  She's had a string of jerk-ass boyfriends since we were in college."

Nothing.

"She never even acted like she cared for me at all except skating until I found somebody I loved and who loved me, and then there was all this drama. Really coincidental timing."

"All of that makes sense, Charlie."

Thank god.

"I'm still concerned," she said.

"Listen, Sharna, you are not the first person to talk to me about this.  My mother has been on me about it for years.  I'm well aware of the perception.  But if you really do love me and Tanith, you need to let it go, and trust that I understand my own feelings."

"Okay, Charlie.  I'm sorry."

"It's okay.  Here," he put his arm back around her, "let's try to get some sleep."

She snuggled against him and miraculously was asleep in a few minutes.  His eyes were still open when they landed in New York.

 

 

 

 

 


	29. Chapter 29

Meryl and Maks, Week 10, Part 1

 

It was a good Tuesday.  It was not that shocking to Meryl that some advanced preparation made the day go smoother.  Maks had both dances mapped out in his head, and just like the early weeks, they spent time trying different possibilities for him to cobble together at the end.  The difference was the level of intensity they were both feeling.  There were more producers about to catch their every sigh and to interview them about every intention.  Tuesday and Wednesday both they left the studio tired and sweaty, went back to one of their residents and fell into a surprising domesticity.  The nerves of it all were finally affecting Meryl, and she was finding eating and sleeping difficult.  Maks was on edge more than he had been away from the studio, so she just tried to be a quiet support for him. 

She adored with the contemporary dance he had choreographed for them.  Throughout the piece, he had her being a quiet, comforting, sensual presence, with him as the tumultuous, passionate brooder.  It was such a  perfect reflection of, yet also such a  counter to their inner selves; it just made Meryl sing in anticipation. 

She loved the Argentine Tango as well.  Maks had used her ice dancing skills so exquisitely that it came more naturally than any style they had danced thus far.  She remembered the struggle and work she put in with Val, contrasted to this process with Maks.  She realized working with Val helped get her to this point, but this week was pure pleasure, even in its most grueling.

Maks styled them in both dances to complement earlier works, humorously and ironically.  Did the Argentine Tango lady of the evening really have all that in common with the lovers from their standard tango? She contrasted the expression of passion from party week, to one of sly amusement towards her latest mark in the current dance.  They weren't Stella and Stanley (look, no wife beater this time), but two halves of one soul in the contemporary.  He put himself in practice gear and her in a short gown:  literally stripped down, but referencing the rumba that they both cherished.

They practiced all Thursday morning and then had to spend the rest of the day doing press.  They were so beyond exhausted at this point, they were using the interviews as therapy.  Meryl heard how important it was to him.  And it was important to her, too, but in a different way.  She truly already felt like she had won.  She had survived all the weeks and saving another shocking! elimination! Monday, she would get the opportunity to do all the dances.  She had experienced the whole thing with this incredible person, so different than her, so different than Charlie but also so innately good and passionate.   The internal pressure he put on himself to succeed was so like her own, and yet manifested itself completely differently.  It was fascinating.

Friday morning, they had an early flight to Washington State for the last three Stars on Ice dates.  Meryl was so relieved she could almost cry.  Maks was surprised at her glee at the end of the tour.

"Won't you miss skating?"

"Hell, no.  Anyway, I'll be skating again in a month."

"Meryl."

"I'm serious!  Okay, I'm not totally serious, but lately, I enjoy skating for exactly two reasons: number 1) practicing my awesome new dance technique on the ice and angsting the hell out of the girls' number and number 2) skating with Charlie 'cause it's like home and comfortable.  Like I don't even have to think about anything.  Other wise I am done."

"You are not done."

"I'm not done with _skating_ , but I am _done_ with skating."

Maks just shook his head.

"I am not kidding, you wankah."  Meryl had fallen in love with Sharna's non-rhotic accent and had adopted several Sharnaisms.  "Listen to me, I thought when we were in insane training mode that if only Tessa and Scott weren't there it would be so perfect, and I would be so happy.  But now they have packed up and moved and STILL the mere thought of that practice ice is chilling, not thrilling.  That was Len by the way."

"Wonderful."

"I know, right?"

"I don't think a couple of months of burnout--quite expected burnout, you know--is going to erase a life long passion."

"Yeah, probably not," she said.

"I know how you feel, though.  And now I'm back loving it more than I ever have."

"We'll see."

They landed in Seattle and had lunch at a beautiful little spot by the water before traveling a short distance to the site of that night's show and getting a few hours practice before it was time for her to get to the venue and him to hop a scary little plane to Portland.  And she missed him immediately.  What was she going to do in a week (the thought stabbed her) when they went their separate ways?  At least Charlie was there.  They were under instructions to train their dance for Tuesday, which was hilarious.  They were skyping with Sharna the whole time, and they laughed more than they danced.  They made plans for another skype on Sunday afternoon with Maks able to join in. The show was great, and she happily boarded the bus for her penultimate trek.  It was five hours to Portland, and it was fun catching up on the gossip with Ashley and Alyssa, who teased her mercilessly about Maks.

"It's just a fling, you know?"

"No, Meryl, I don't know, but I would like to have a fling like that with a Maks.  I am lacking Makses in my life, sadly," Ashley told her.

They were not staying in the same hotel as Maks and the producer this time, so Meryl wouldn't see him until they met for breakfast.  They stumbled off the bus at 3:15 A.M., and there he was sleeping, sitting up on a sofa in the lobby.  Her heart swelled to see him, and her grin took over her face.

"Enjoy your fling," Ashley hugged her. Meryl would miss her girls when the tour was over.  She walked over and patted him. 

"Surprise," he said sleepily.  He grabbed her bag and they headed up to the room.  Nothing like sleepy, unexpected sex when you were anticipating just feeling sorry for yourself.

They were able to practice for a good amount of time on Saturday and felt the dances were ready to go.  Their producer was instructed to take a teaser video of them, so they picked a portion of the freestyle.  Just seeing the black and white snippet was thrilling.

"Maks," Meryl said to him, "look at you; you are so beautiful."  He was.  His lines were stunning and his passion was palpable.  She had never been so excited to perform a dance.

He headed to the airport and dropped her off at the Portland venue. She wanted to get him out of the van, dip him over in her arms and kiss the fuck out of him, but of course, she didn't.  They settled for a quick goodby kiss in the van. Sad.

Another show, the last bus, a quiet Sunday morning, training with Chuck and the other two members of the fearless four via skype, and then her serious mistake that she would regret for the next 24 hours. It looked harmless enough, a Styrofoam take-out container of fish, a baked potato and steamed veggies. It contained something evil.  She was fine until she started feeling light-headed during intermission.  She got through the girls' number okay, but then collapsed backstage.  Then ran full-out for the bathroom.  They had to cancel Scheherazade, a decision made completely unknown to her as she was not capable of rational thought at the moment.

Thank goodness she and Charlie had a charter again because the thought of suffering through this on a commercial plane was untenable.  It was bad enough camped out in the back aisle, in close proximity to the bathroom.  Charlie was very sweet and kept wanting to put a damp cloth on her head, but she wanted him as far away from her as possible to escape humiliation that she was incapable of feeling at the moment but feared would be there when she was more coherent.  He texted Maks for her.

Maks 8:45 Baby, are you okay?

Meryl 8:48 Dying.

Maks: 8:49  Malibu?

Meryl:  8:50 Yes.

The flight attendant got her into the car with a bucket and a prayer.  He was waiting for her at the house, where she made a pallet on the bathroom floor and told him to get some sleep.

"I'll sleep here."

"Maks, you don't want to be in here, I promise you."

He made a pallet for himself outside the bathroom door, and they chatted when it was open.  She told him not to listen when it was closed. 

"Baby, we've all been sick before."

"Not like this.  This is the death throws, I think. Charlie gets my Tolkien collection.  You can have whatever else you want.  Tell my folks I love them."

"I will take care of everything.  Your Scheherazade dress for burial?"

"Yes, the lilac one.  No, my Audrey dress with the sleeves.  People can snark about it at the funeral."

"I have no idea what that means."

She closed the door with her foot.

"Baby, do you need some water?"

"Ugh, no, no substance ever again."

"Oh, babe, I'm sorry."

She opened the door.

"You know my type A birth control situation?"

He laughed. "You are a crazy sick person."

"Well, there's no way it's still in there.  So you know what that means."

"I have no idea what that means."

"If I ever feel like having sex again, which I'm very, very sorry to say is doubtful, we are going to have to be careful with the other."

"Condoms?" he laughed.

"Yes, good for you, Maks."  She shut the door again.

He dozed off and awoke around 6:00 A.M.  She was asleep on the bathroom floor and promptly threw up again.  This time she was too weak to chase him out, so he held her hair and helped her rinse her mouth after.  There was nothing left in her except some kind of stomach acid, and he immediately called the producer to arrange for a doctor to meet them at the studio. 

A car came for her, and he got her settled in the back seat and then followed in his car.  It was not at all how he pictured this day.  The doctor filled her with drugs and they all hoped for the best.

 

 


	30. Chapter 30

Charlie:  Week 10, Part 1

 

Being back at the rehearsal studio after their quick trip to New York made it almost seem like nothing had changed, another week of training.  Almost.  No pressure, really, which was a relief, but he missed the excitement of prepping for the Monday show, and he was just as disappointed as Sharna that their freestyle would never see the light of day.  They also would have done the rumba, and Charlie had been looking forward to dancing that with Sharna.  Still, it was a lot of fun rehearsing the Mary Poppins number with the troupe--he really loved those guys--and he and Sharna choreographed his dance with Meryl putting together mostly ice dance stuff modified for the floor.  Meryl had very little time to practice with them, but she popped over whenever possible.  Charlie got to see her freestyle as a work in progress, and unsurprisingly, it looked to be epic.

Practicing those lifts with Meryl on the floor took him right back to the previous summer, of Meryl in her simple summer workout stuff before the _Tessa and Scott_ cameras arrived and she looked ready for a runway show every day, just tank, leggings and messy bun.  Jesus.  As much as he probably never wanted to revisit the insanity of that time, he had a visceral reaction of comfort and home with the girl.

He was happy to be in the final stretch of Stars on Ice; he loved it, but the travel was about to be too much.  He was so ready to go back to Michigan, move into the new house and do absolutely nothing until the fall semester began.   Well, tour Japan, but that would be fun.

Meryl was a bit of a mess when she arrived for the first Washington show.  Instead of running through anything during their ice warm-up, they just skated quietly hand in hand so she could breathe and relax. 

"You ready?" he asked her after the show as they waited to board the bus.

"No.  I mean, the dances are going fine, but freaking out a little bit.  I wish there was another week.  I wish you were still there."

"I have been."

"You know what I mean."

"Maks is meeting you in Portland?"

"Yes, they took another scary plane.  But look at the shot he got out the window."  Meryl pulled out her phone and showed him the picture of Mount Rainier Maks had taken.  Regular Renaissance man.

"You need to sleep the whole way tonight."

"I know, but tell my brain that."

He put his mouth up to her ear.

"Sleeeeeeeeep."

She laughed.  "Thanks."

The next time he saw her, they were walking into the Portland hotel, and there was Maks waiting for her.  In spite of his reservations, Charlie thought that was sweet.  He wished Tanith was sitting next to him.  Meryl smiled like he hadn't seen her smile all day.  Genuine happiness--Charlie couldn't deny it.  They uploaded a clip of their freestyle the next day to Instagram, and Charlie once again saw the beauty they created together.  He felt happiness, appreciation and undeniably some jealousy, mostly, he realized, that he and Sharna were denied the opportunity to put something artistic out there as well.

Late Sunday morning he and Meryl practiced their dance while skyping with Sharna and Maks.  Maks seemed much more concerned with Meryl's state of being than the dance, and they didn't end up rehearsing much.

"Did you eat breakfast?" 

Really?  How did she survive before this guy. 

"Yes, waffles!" And both did a little happy dance. 

"I had an omelet.  Mushrooms and spinach."  He told Sharna.  Meryl smacked him in the arm.

"Take a nap before you skate," continued Maks."  Wow, earth shattering life coaching there.

He and Meryl had lunch together backstage at the arena afterwards, and although it wasn't significant at the time, they ate exactly the same thing.  Later when she was puking her guts out on the plane, he wondered how he could have escaped it.  He supposed he should thank Providence because he was fairly certain that plane would not have survived two passengers in the throws of food poisoning.

Her phone filled up with concerned texts from the Chmer.  It dinged relentlessly.

"Meryl, Maks wants an update."

"Tell him I'm dying."

"He wants to know if you want to go to Malibu or his place?" Shudder.

"Malibu. Thank you, Charlie.  Don't get any closer."

He was never so glad to land and be on the way to the hotel where Tanith was waiting.


	31. Chapter 31

Meryl and Maks:  Week 10, part 2

 

Meryl woke up in her trailer at 11:00 with her mom and Maks hovering over her.  She had slept for three hours and hadn't thrown up again.  She sat up and was relieved to feel almost human.  Cheryl sat next to her and was smoothing her hair.  Maks handed her a bottle of water.

"You need to eat something if you possibly can.  They pushed our rehearsal to 1:30, but I'm afraid you'll pass out," Maks seemed very stressed.

"Can you think of anything you could eat?"  Cheryl also sounded really worried.

"I'm going to be fine, you guys.  I feel so much better.  I could eat some toast or some plain oatmeal maybe.  I really want some tea and a ginger ale."  Maks left to go find it for her.

Meryl took off for hair and makeup and then to the costume room.  The red Argentine Tango suit was exquisite.  The rest of the day was a blur, but she made it through her rehearsals, and she managed to keep her food down.  By the time she was ready to go on for the show, Maks was a mess.  She tried to calm him down before it was time for their AT, and she couldn't help but think about Charlie and sitting on those chairs before they took the ice for the free dance.  This was not that level of pressure for her.  It couldn't be.  Tessa and Scott skating so well and setting a world record and leaving it for them to answer was the most serious athletic challenge that she had or would ever face in her life.  But she knew it was just that important to him.  He was holding back tears as they took their opening positions.  The dance came off flawlessly.  She flew into him backwards so smoothly.  Take that, haters. The judges were kind; the scores amazing.  They hurried backstage to get ready for the freestyle.  She laughed to herself that this was taking on a familiar pattern:  an AT short dance and then the free.

She slipped on her short gown, and the hair person carefully unwrapped her tango updo.  They had avoided product as much as possible so her hair could flow freely in their dance.  Peta and James had a whole production number, so she and Maks huddled in a corner and held each other until it was time to go on stage. Maks wanted her to watch the package this time.  Typically she tried to avoid it because it took her focus away from the dance, but he wanted her to reflect on the whole experience.  She didn't really have a sob story, though, and she and Maks ended up laughing when Brooke called him the big, sexy Russian.  Meryl cringed when Brooke mentioned that she and Charlie had brother-sister chemistry.

"That's not true."

"I know, Babe.  Maybe we shouldn't have watched the package." He laughed.

They got into place and the music began.  She let herself go and experienced every second with him.  She blocked everything else.  It was just the two of them.  Carrie Ann told them to get married, and Maks tightened his grip on her.  Oh my.  Again the comment and scores exceeded all expectations.  Maks wept openly backstage, and Tony started crying, too.  She took him in her arms.

"Baby, I loved that.  We will always have that."  It was the first time _she_ had called _him_ Baby. 

A shocking elimination, but not for them, and then they were scooted off to the rehearsal studio to plan their fusion dance.  They were so exhausted and mentally spent that they literally fused their foxtrot and cha cha together and called it a day.  Maks arranged for a short, sassy cha cha costume to have a lovely detachable foxtrot skirt.

"Love it, done, let's go home." She gathered up their things.  He put her into the car.

"See you in a while," he said, and the driver took off for Maks's apartment.  Val was already there voting and tweeting.  Meryl hugged him and went to bed where Maks followed her shortly.  He took her in his arms.

"I love your friend Brooke."

"You'll love her even more when you get to know her."

"So it's you, Tanith..."

"And Lindsay.  Those are my girls.  I should show you the text I sent Brooke when I found out you were my partner. That was...late February? Early March? I'm sure it's gone.  Anyway, I told her it would be a struggle not to jump on you, and I have to say it was.  Obviously, since I ended up doing just that."

"You told her that?"

"Of course."

"Is that what you thought?"

"Well, yeah.  I had really only seen your season with Erin.  You were the most memorable thing about that season, well, I mean Evan and all that, but yeah, it was pretty much you."

"Were you shocked when they told you I was your partner?"

"I wasn't shocked. Actually there's a story.  When I first talked to the producers about doing the show we were still in Sochi, it was like the day after we got our medals, I think.  Yeah, it was two days after the free dance.  They pretty much led me to believe that I would have Derek."

"Oh no!  Those sneaky bastards.  He wasn't even planning on doing the show at that point."

"I know.  So I fly to LA and the first thing the producers say to me in our meeting is that I'm not having Derek, but that they have something special for me."

Maks laughed.

"So they said your name and that's the last thing I remember about the meeting.  Then I YouTubed everything I could get my hands on."

"Oh, fuck.  You must have been terrified."

"No. I knew I could handle you.  And then I met you, and you were nothing like I expected.  You were, you are, so kind. I have you figured out, anyway."

He pulled her in closer.  "They lured me back with you. Not by name at first, just promising something I wouldn't believe.  I thought they were overselling for sure.  Then I got your name, and I almost fainted. I watched every minute of the Olympics, and you and Charlie were the stars.  Anyway, you were my Derek."

"And you ended up being my Derek."

"Well, we'll see tomorrow.  I expect Derek will end up being Derek." He kissed her on the head.

"No way, we're going to win."

"Baby, don't say that!"

"Nope, won't change anything.  We're going to win."

"I need to call my grandma and get an anti-jinx spell."

"No you don't."

"Okay, I'm just going to pretend you didn't say that."  She had fallen asleep on his arm. He kissed her and turned her over, falling asleep behind her.

 

 

 

 


	32. Chapter 32

Meryl, Week 10, part 3

 

The alarm went off an hour before their 7:30 call.  She sleepily reached around for him and hoisted herself on top.

"Good morning," she whispered.

He took hold of her and flipped her around, so she was beneath him, kissing her with clear intent.  She wrapped her legs around him.

"Good morning," he replied.

After, they showered--the last shower they would have in hours and hours of excitement.  They had to bring a packed bag to the studio because the top four couples were flying to New York for _Good Morning America_ immediately after the show, which Meryl had forgotten in the excitement of last night.  She texted Cheryl to bail her out.  He mother refrained to mention the sleeping arrangements that made this necessary, for which Meryl was grateful.

Meryl was pulled in a thousand different directions all day, but it made the time go by.  She and Maks took every available moment to practice their fusion dance.  When they rehearsed the Team Loca dance, they realized how rough it was, so they tried to work on it as well.  People kept handing her food to eat, but she was way too nervous to handle anything but a few bites.  She and Charlie had a dress rehearsal for their dance, which turned out to be a bumper.  Still, it was so calming to work with him, even dancing on the floor. It reminded her of the early training they would do for their programs.   

"I have a good feeling about tonight," Charlie told her.

"I do, too.  I don't know why, because Amy could easily win and Candace keeps hanging in there, but I feel like we're going to take it.  Maks doesn't want me to say that."

"Hey, we claimed the gold medal six months before Sochi."

"Yes, we did."

"I thought Sharna and I would be in contention after the first night, but we got derailed somewhere in there."

"I thought you would win after the first night, too.  I just wanted to hang on to the end with you."

"When did you start to think you could win?" He asked her.

"Week 3, foxtrot. I watched the video and couldn't believe it was me."

"Yeah, Maks's choreography just kept getting better and better.  And then the next week was the Argentine Tango with Val, you were definitely the front runner at that point."

"Crazy.  As difficult as it has been with all the travel, I don't know if I could have handled it being here all the time.  It was nice to have something else to focus on."

"I don't know, I think the whole thing was pretty insane."

"It was."

Meryl was being pulled in a different direction.  Charlie hugged her tightly before they parted.

"Seriously, good luck tonight, Merle.  No one deserves it more."

"Thanks, Chuck, love you."

"You, too."

The first hour of the show was one dance after another.  The second hour, Meryl and Maks had their own little stage to practice the fusion and wait their turn.  They were dancing last, which both thought was a good omen.  There was audience seating around their stage and a monitor that showed what was happening on the main stage. Most of the time they were swaying with their arms around each other.  When Peta and James were doing their Michael Jackson cha cha, Maks danced with her, holding her very close and spinning her around.  She followed his lead. It was kind of perfect. 

Then they played the Boris and Oleg package.  Both turned bright red.  Maks deflected by making a suggestive comment.  Really?  They had ten minutes before they were going to dance.

"That was recorded during Latin week; I recognize the hat.  You wanted to ravage me during Latin week?"

"No comment."

"Why didn't you? I would have been right there with you."

"In fairness, this was before I knew you were a raging sex fiend," he told her.

"Hey!" She smacked his arm.

"I thought I was going to have to seduce you."

"Yeah, not so much."

Meryl made a big, glaring error in the cha cha part of the fusion dance, but she recovered as well as she could, and the judges ignored it. Then they had the agonizing wait for the results.

"You still feeling good?" Maks asked her during the commercial.

"I'm still feeling like it's ours."

"Why do you SAY things like that? Have you never had bad luck?"

"We've--Charlie and I--have had utter disasters.  Talking about it before hand didn't change anything."

"I don't understand you."

"That's okay."  They were wrapped up in each other, and he would hunch down to talk in her ear.  Candace was eliminated.  It was between them and Amy and Derek.

"Look at Derek; he thinks we won, too." Meryl said in Maks's ear.

"You have to stop talking like that, Babe.  In fact, don't speak.  If I ask you a question, tap my leg once for yes and twice for no."  Meryl tapped his leg twice.

Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait.  So suprmemely appropriate that this show end with having to waaaaaaaaaaaaait.

**Meryl and Maks!**

The rest was a blur.  He grabbed her and burst into tears.  Tony and Val wanted to hug him, but he held on to her.  He kept saying thank you to her over and over. At some point he put her down and Charlie and someone...Emma? hoisted her up and she had the trophy in her hand.  They had an interview with Tom at some point, and she really just wanted to let Maks talk.  The crowd was going crazy, which reminded her more of Nationals than the Olympics.  She actually had that thought.  As soon as the interview was over, she fell into Maks, and he picked her up in one arm.  Each had a hand on the trophy and they were breathing into each other's necks.

"I love you, Babe." he said.

"I love you, too."

 

 

 


	33. Chapter 33

Meryl:  The Next Year

 

It only took a day and a half after the show had ended for Meryl to see her dream of being an average student in Ann Arbor slip away.  There were so many opportunities, both skating and other things, that she realized she couldn't turn them all down. She and Charlie had already signed on for the 2015 _Stars on Ice tour_ , but she had figured that she could handle it and school much like she had that spring.  But there were so many other offers:  TV specials, modeling, commercials, a coffee table book with a book tour; she suspected she would never be in demand like this again, and she didn't want to have regrets.  So she kept the condo, got over the idea of living in Ann Arbor, and begged her adviser to work with her.  The last part went easier than she had imagined.  She would do most of her coursework online and meet with him once a week on campus.  They formulated a plan in which she really could be finished by August 2015. 

"Just tell me this," her seventy year old adviser asked her.  Meryl braced for a lecture about spreading herself too thin or not taking her academics seriously enough. "Are you and Maks a couple?  My wife and I rooted for you the whole time; we even called in and voted.  We both thought you and Maks should end up together."

Meryl laughed.  "I like him a whole lot.  Thank you so much for voting for us.  Is this the book you wrote?  I was just reading the blurb on Amazon about it."  Gold medal in deflection.

She slept pretty much the whole time in Hawaii.  Charlie proposed to Tanith in the least surprising development of her whole life.  She kissed them both and then slept some more.  Her mother thought she was depressed.

"It's not surprising; it must be such a let down after the Olympics and the show.  Now Charlie..."

"I'm just exhausted, Momma."

"Have you talked to Maks?"

"Every day."

Meryl's fantasy of him sweeping into Hawaii was not going to happen. He had to rehearse for his show and capitalize on heightened interest in the studios. The phones were ringing constantly with people wanting lessons; it could be their biggest year to date.  Meryl understood that.  They were always in contact anyway, but she missed him.  Looking at Charlie and Tanith, she felt sorry for herself.  Then she felt stupid for comparing her fling (she would NOT call it a showmance) with their epic love.  She still felt partially hollow. 

They arrived back in Detroit late on a Friday night.  She was in the middle of discussing whether or not she just wanted to spend the night at Paul and Cheryl's or have them drop her off at the condo when she saw him.  He was sitting near the baggage claim looking in the other direction with his little overnight bag he used on those short trips they took close to the end of the show.  She bolted over to him, and tapped him on the shoulder.  He picked her up and swung her around, not kissing her in public. 

"Oh, I can't believe it!" She said in his ear.

"Are you happy?" He asked her.

"You have no idea."

"We have the whole weekend."

He let her go, and walked over to Charlie to shake his hand and kiss Tanith on the cheek.

"Congratulations, man!" He said sincerely.  "Here's to all of us punching above our weight."

"You got that right.  Did she know you would be here?" Charlie asked Maks.

"No, a little surprise."  They shook hands again and Charlie and Tanith left to find their car.

"I guess you're going to the condo," Cheryl said to Meryl while Paul and Maks grabbed the bags.

"Yes."

"We'll still drop you off.  I'll handle Dad."

"Thanks."  Meryl side-hugged her mom.

And that was the first of many weekends that characterized that year.  Half the weekends he flew in to Detroit, half she was in New York or LA.  Maks got the job he wanted as a permanent judge between Bruno and Carrie Ann.  They each had new modeling agents, and they booked some joint shoots and some individual.  She would never be a runway model (Maks of course could) but she got a surprising amount of print work.  All those years of being called odd looking were finally paying off.  Turns out odd sells, bitches.  That brought her to New York during the week occasionally although of course many times, he was out of town.  She had a standing invitation out to Jersey and dinner with his parents that she always fulfilled.  They seemed to like her a lot but be a little baffled by her.  They couldn't understand why she was still in school in Michigan and not in LA with Maks.

"Why do your parents not want me to finish school?" She asked him on the phone after dinner one night.

"They don't understand why someone as talented and beautiful as you is wasting her time.  Their words, not mine."

"Oh, I know.  That's weird, though.  Do they know how long it's taken me to get to this point?"

"That would be even more fodder, I think.  Nodding and smiling is the best response."

"I've figured that one out."

Maks was there, decked out in blue and maize, for the Wolverines game when they honored Meryl and Charlie for their gold medal at half time.  He was able to converse expertly with Charlie and Paul about the Wolverines' season so far, which touched Meryl (who would be hard pressed to tell you the name of the quarterback).

The distance thing was tough.  Meryl told herself that as soon as it got stressful, she would bail, but it never did.  No matter what was going on in her life, she looked forward to Friday, even when she was exhausted and the thought of another plane was overwhelming.  She lugged her laptop with her everywhere so she could study and write papers in every spare moment.  Maks would wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of her clicking away.  She had shifted her focus in the umbrella of cultural anthropology to Italian literature, and she was endeavoring to read the canon in the original language.  She dreamed of getting accepted into the English master's program at Columbia and knew everything had to be perfect to achieve it. 

In the spring she and Charlie were back on the road with _Stars on Ice_ , and Maks traveled a little with her when he could.  Trying to finish her coursework (the summer sessions were to be devoted completely to her senior thesis) while touring was every bit as stressful as taping a live show in LA simultaneously, she was sad to realize.  It also wasn't as fun, and she had to do most of it without Maks.  She kept waiting for _him_ to bail.  He was getting a massive amount of attention for his work on the show and his modeling.  They were very private about their relationship although it was hardly a secret they were together.  They were almost never photographed together except in LA where they were careful in public.  She felt sure he was just about to realize how ordinary she was in comparison with the fabulous people he came in contact with. 

Again this year, their last _Stars on Ice_   date coincided with the final two shows of _Dancing with the Stars_.  She and Maks had been asked to dance on finale night, so he flew to Oregon to put something together with her.  He had choreographed a foxtrot before he got there, which to Meryl was an unmissable sign that he was ever growing.  It made her heart swell a thousand times. Meryl had finished her finals the week before, and was procrastinating starting the thesis until the end of tour when she promised herself she would throw down.

Instead of the intensely romantic _All of Me_ , they had _It Had to Be You_ to dance to, and Meryl was glad to do something less intimate.  The sting of the showmance charge still hurt her. People had spammed her social media accounts calling her a slut, and in an unsurprising but still disappointing dick move, her ex-boyfriend, the gift that kept on giving, Fedor had posted a picture of them right after the show suggesting they were still together.  Anyway, Maks choreographed a straight up adorable foxtrot with no near kisses and lots of technique.  Boom.

She and Charlie officially hung up their skates after _Stars on Ice_. He had been accepted to UCLA law school and his wedding was the first Saturday in August.  Meryl gave herself a deadline on July 31 to be finished with the honors thesis on Italian women Renaissance writers.  She heard from Columbia in June that she was accepted conditionally on completion and approval of her thesis.  She put her condo on the market and left the house and her laptop only to make her weekly trip to Ann Arbor and when her real estate agent wanted to show it. It sold mid-July, but she was able to stay until after the wedding.  Maks respected her writing space, but she insisted they keep their weekends if only to prevent her becoming fully insane.  She finished it with two days to spare, and Maks flew in the next day.  They rented a cabin by a lake and were alone for a week. 

"Do you realize this is the longest we've been together since Christmas?" He whispered to her in bed on their sixth night together.

"Um, yes."  She was lying completely on top of him mindlessly kissing his neck while caressing the hair by his ear on the other side.  He had his arms wrapped around her, his hands resting just above her ass.

"God, I missed this." He whispered.

"We did this every weekend." She rolled off of him and playfully bit his nipple.

"No, we didn't.  We didn't just lie and do nothing.  I mean, I'm not complaining, I have enough epic weekend fantasy material to get through another season in LA, but it was always right to sleep or right to homework or right to the airport.  This is what I love."

"I love it, too."

"I can't believe you're moving to New York.  It's too good to be true, and someone is going to rip it away."

"That could happen if they hate my paper."

"They won't."

"I hope you're right."

"But we'll still have crazy schedules," he said wistfully.

He was right.  Meryl had been assigned two Freshman comp classes to teach in addition to her graduate work. After the wedding she had two days to pack up the condo and get it ready to transfer to the new owners, and then arrive in New York in time for orientation.  She had course outlines for the freshman classes but exactly no teaching experience unless you counted ice dance workshops, which she didn't.  What if they all laughed at her and refused to listen? What if they Googled her? Of course they would.  They would see that infamous 2010 picture of her and Charlie where his face was in her crotch during a lift.  All of those near-kiss pictures with Maks.  This would be a disaster.

"Let's just move here.  We could fish or something.  We could open a little dance studio and never leave this town." She whispered into his chest.

"Sold."  He was rubbing her back with one thumb and they fell asleep with her draped on him.

The wedding was beautiful. She was a bridesmaid and of course Tanith had picked gorgeous dresses.  She looked into the crowd after she had marched to the front, and Maks was beaming at her from the fourth row on Charlie's side seated next to Cheryl and Paul.

She danced with Charlie at the reception and they were both teary.

"I haven't seen you all summer," he admonished her mildly.

"I've been in seclusion."

"I know; I'm so proud of you about Columbia."

"Can you believe we did it?" She asked him.

"I mean, yeah. I really didn't doubt either of us would."

"I should have been talking to you more because I had plenty of doubt.  I mean about me."

"Well, I didn't.  I guess you will be in LA some, at least during the show? I mean I assume you and Maks are still going strong." They looked over at Maks dancing with Brooke.

"Yeah, I hope to be out there.  I have no idea what school will be like."

"I know."

"I'm so happy for you, Charlie, for you and Tanith."

"I know you are, Merle."  He brought her in close and kissed the top of her head.  "I am in denial that we'll be a whole country apart.  That's not possible."

"Please don't make me cry.  Or make me cry more than I have."

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too," she replied but it was inaudible through the tears.

They finished the dance and she returned to Maks who held her tightly.  "It's okay, Babe.  You'll see him all the time.  Between LA and Michigan for holidays, you'll always see him."

"I know.  It's silly.  Don't even validate it." They laughed.

The next day she and Maks and her parents got to work packing the condo.  She had rented a tiny apartment close to campus.  Maks had suggested she move into his house, but she wanted her own little space, as always.  Plus, she told him, wouldn't he love to be able to have a place he could stay in Manhattan.  He thought she was being silly, and they had a tense few days over it in July, but he acquiesced eventually. He was even letting her store the majority of her furniture at his place--it was sparsely furnished anyway--so it worked out well.  They were loading two separate piles:  things to go to her apartment and things to go to his house.  Cheryl was afraid that the piles would be confused, which was silly, but Meryl let her be in charge.  After a very long day, Cheryl and Paul left to rest before they would all meet for dinner, and Maks and Meryl collapsed on the floor.  The truck would be there first thing in the morning, and then they would fly to New York together and meet it eventually.  They were going to spend that night at her parents' house, so this was their only alone time before they got to her apartment in hours and hours.

He was sweaty from head to toe, but he looked as good as he ever did.  She was about to suggest a final shower in the condo, but he had a cryptic expression on his face.  There, sitting on the empty living room floor that almost wasn't hers any more, he slipped his hand into the pocket of his workout pants, took her hand and slipped a ring on her finger.

"Meryl," he said in that way that still killed her. "Let's get married."

 


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those of you who read Yet Another Brick realize that I have written myself into quite the corner here. What can I say--I love Meryl and Charlie and Meryl and Maks both. So I'm taking the easy way out: two endings. This one stays true to the YAB universe. In the next one, a butterfly flapped its wings errantly in Mexico or something. 
> 
> “Sometimes I remind myself that I almost skipped the party, that I almost went to a different college, that the whim of a minute could have changed everything and everyone. Our lives, so settled, so specific, are built on happenstance.” Anna Quindlen from Every Last One

Epilogue A

Detroit, May 2026

 

Meryl had Frannie in a sling and was trying to throw some dinner together before Charlie got home.  He wouldn't expect it necessarily, and she could call him and just have him pick up some takeout, but she wanted to feel like she had accomplished something besides feeding a baby on this day.

She was six weeks postpartum, and it was still difficult.  And she was lucky, Frannie was a decent sleeper and didn't have colic like Meryl's nephew. Her brother and sister-in-law had barely survived it with their sanity in tact.  Meryl's mother came over to help almost every day so Meryl could shower at least.  It was still challenging and frustrating with moments of great joy in between. 

Francesca Charlotte Davis White had been born two weeks early in mid-April.  After much debate back and forth over her middle name before she was born, Meryl had slipped Charlotte in there.  She was almost certainly to be their only child, so there would be no Charles III.  In spite of her grand name, she would go by Frannie White her entire life.

It had taken them three weeks of hell to get used to breast feeding.  Meryl doubted herself every day. Just when she was about to give up, something clicked and it got easier.  They had finally reached a point where her nipples didn't feel like they were being ripped from her body.  Frannie slept a lot during the day, and Cheryl had urged Meryl to sleep when the baby slept, but turning off her mind had been impossible.  She fantasized about sleeping.  She fantasied about going back to work in August.  She felt guilty about that.  She felt overwhelmed with responsibility. She felt overwhelmed with love.  She felt ridiculous because millions of women had given birth before.  She was not some special little flower feeling these things.  She felt fat. She felt like a traitor to the cause for basing her worth on arbitrary beauty standards.  She had a daughter now.  What kind of example was she?

She heard the door rattle and the unmistakable sounds of her husband's arrival from work, and happiness exploded within her.  She put a protective hand around the sling--it would take many more months of practice before she felt truly comfortable with that arrangement--and jogged into the entry way of their home.

"Hey, ladies!" Charlie put his arms around them both and kissed Meryl.  Frannie stirred in the sling against her father's chest.  "This was on the porch." He held out a box to Meryl.  It was addressed formally to:

Mr. and Mrs. Charles White

Miss Francesca White

 

Meryl rolled her eyes.  Seriously, people, Meryl has a name.  She checked the return address:  Dance with Me, Fort Lee, New Jersey.

 

Meryl loved grad school from the first day. In spite of her worries, her freshmen were delightful, for the most part, of course.  They had asked her questions about the Olympics and _Dancing with the Stars_ , but they also seemed to respect her as a teacher.  She poured herself into correcting their papers and giving them suggestions.  Having written her own thesis so recently, she felt very much in writing mode and remarkably qualified to help them.  Many of them were really overwhelmed by their first semester, so instead of feeling inadequate, which was her secret fear, she felt empowered to help them.  Her own classes were fascinating, and she loved her new adviser, who had no idea who Meryl was aside from being her student. 

"Ms. Davis, I saw you on a newsstand this morning, are you a model?"

"I do a little bit on the side."

"Just don't overextend yourself."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Don't call me ma'am."

"Sorry."

Meryl absolutely did not mention that her fiance was currently on a famous reality show.  Or that she had been on that show. Had won that show, if anyone cared to inquire.

Maks was in New York for most of the week, and they switched off staying at his place and hers, quite like they had during the last part of the show.  Maks was adamant about getting married as soon as possible.  He was apposed to long engagements, on any engagements really.

"We want to get married, let's just get married.  Today.  We put it off, and suddenly it's five years from now and we're not married and we have no family."

"I don't want to put it off, I just want time to plan a wedding.  I want one, I'm sorry."

They had compromised by setting a date in late December after Christmas.  But as September became October and Meryl had almost no time for anything other than school she was getting more and more stressed.  She went on an online wedding planning site and started to hyperventilate. 

 **Meryl**   8:45  We've missed deadlines for EVERYTHING we need to reserve! Panicking!  Please can we push the wedding to June? 

 **Maks** :  8:48  Babe.  Let's just get married.

 **Meryl** :  8:49  I can't get it all done by December. 

 **Maks** : 8:50  What do you need me to do?

 **Meryl** :8:52  I'm overwhelmed just thinking about it.

 **Maks** :  8:52 We don't need a wedding.

 **Meryl** : 8:55  Why can't you just compromise?

 **Maks** : 8:56  I thought I was.

Meryl called her mother, but there was no answer.  She threw her phone down on her bed.  All night she went over it in her head.  How many issues like this would they face?  He was unwilling to see her side.  Would that be their entire marriage: his agenda and great if she agrees and too bad if she doesn't.  She hoped the light of day would make her feel better, but no.  She called him in between classes as soon as it was a decent hour in LA.

"So it's either get married by December 26, or forget the whole thing?" She asked him.

"Babe, I don't know what to tell you.  I didn't give you an ultimatum."

"But really, you did."

"If you want to look at it that way."

"How else could I look at it, please tell me?"

He didn't say anything. 

"Maks?"

"Babe, I want to be with you, but I won't wait.  I'm too old, and I've been here before.  I can't put this on hold any longer.  I'm sorry if that's unreasonable, but I'm not backing down.  If you want to marry me; marry me, otherwise I don't have time for this."

"I do! I want to!

"Then what's the problem?"

"I don't think it should only be on your terms."

"Baby, I love you. But I'm not changing my mind."

But not that much love, apparently.  She spent the next two days imagining her life on his timetable.  Babies, imminently.  Career, on hold. Familial pressure from his side, overwhelming.  How had she gone from free spirit with the prospect of world travel and flings along the way to this?  And she loved him.  She loved him so much she was almost willing to do this. Almost.

She got a text from her mother.

 **Cheryl** 10:55  Hey, missed your call.  Jacqui and I were on a marathon walk, and I left my phone at home.

She didn't call her back because she knew she would just dissolve in tears, and Meryl had classes and work for the rest of the day.  Maks flew in from LA and met her for dinner.  She gave him back the ring.  He was furious.  He said ugly things.  She replied in kind.  She left feeling like she had dodged a bullet, a feeling that was amplified when every member of the Chmerkovskiy family and network called her in the next forty eight hours and pleaded with her, and then let her know what a bitch she was.  Maks kept the whole thing private aside from that, for which she was grateful.

She finished the semester and felt better as the months went on.  She got as drunk as she had ever been in her life on December 26.  She sobbed and cursed and finally called him from her childhood bed where she was sleeping over the Christmas break.  He didn't pick up.

By summer she read of his engagement to a woman with a Russian name.  Google informed Meryl she was a dancer.  Well, good for him.  Babies followed quickly. She hoped he was happy.  

 _She_ was happy, most of the time.  She traveled during the summer.  She had a string of fabulous boyfriends, none of whom she was ever really serious about.  She became a competitive runner in New York, qualifying for the marathon on her first attempt.  When she moved to Texas for her doctorate, she fell in love with Austin.  She supported Charlie via text through his divorce and was thrilled when he moved back to Detroit.  Sometimes she would wake up in the middle of the night and regret ending her relationship with Maks.  Sometimes she would feel hollow with grief.  Most of the time she loved her life, and when she was thirty-four, and she reunited with Charlie in every way possible, she knew it had all worked out the way it was supposed to. 

 

Meryl opened the package trying to contain her curiosity.  There was a formal card:

Congratulations on the birth of your daughter!

Sincerely,

Maksim and Tatiana Chmerkovskiy

 

Inside the package was a tiny pair of ballroom shoes.

"Wow," Charlie said.  There were a lot of layers to that word.  Meryl was speechless.  "Look there's something on the back of the card," he handed it back to her. Written  in handwriting Meryl remembered was the following message:

I hope your Francesca will develop a love for dance.  I hope her "folks" are still dancing, too.  Love, Maks

 

"Wow," Charlie said again.

"I said nothing when Tanith sent us an entire layette, so you don't get to expound now," Meryl told him.

"No, I mean, it's really nice of him...of them.  When was the last time you talked to him?"

"Not since we broke up."

"Well, that's going to be an interesting thank you note."

Meryl sat down to write it the next day.  She wracked her brain for appropriate words that could never express how she really felt.

 

Dear Maks and Tatiana,

Thank you so much for the beautiful shoes. We will keep them safe for her until she can walk, and then perhaps she will be clamoring for dance lessons.  We hope all is well with you and your family. Please let us know if you are ever in Detroit, as we would love to see you in person some time.  Thank you again for the perfect gift.

Sincerely,

Meryl Davis and Charlie White

 

Blah. She got Frannie in the sling and walked to the post office, an antiquated practice, but still in her mind the most appropriate way to send a thank you note.  None of what she really wanted to say was in that card.  When she got home, she got on the phone to Sharna.

"Do you have contact information for Maks, like an email or something?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, he sent us a baby gift, and I need to talk to him.  I don't want to text."

"No, that wouldn't be good.  Let me see. Charlie sent me new pics of Frannie, oh my god, Meryl she's getting so big!"

"I know; I can't believe it.  How is your brood?"

"Driving me crazy.  I'm sending them to camp in two weeks, and I can't wait.  Okay, here it is."

Meryl took down the address and said goodbye to her friend.  She grabbed her tablet and got to work.

 

Maks,

Sharna gave me this address, please don't be mad at her, I strong-armed her.  We got the shoes, and they are gorgeous.  I feel awful about the way we parted.  I want you to know how much I loved you and how wonderful you were to me in that time of my life.  You deserved more from me than I gave you then, and I am truly sorry for how I treated you.  I sincerely hope our families can meet sometime soon.  You are one of two great loves I have had, and I want my daughter to know you.

Love,

Meryl

 

She closed the tablet and had instant regrets.  She fully expected an angry message from the wife at any moment.  Bitch, you had your chance, leave us alone. Her phone rang with an email notice about ten minutes later.

 

Meryl,

 

You have nothing to apologize for.  I was the one who blew it.  So many times I almost showed up at your door to beg for your forgiveness and beg you to take me back.  I met my wife soon after, and I do believe everything worked out the way it was supposed to, but I have mountains of regret where you are concerned.  I am truly happy that you and Charlie have ended up together.  It was the perfect ending for you, yeah? I would love for our families to meet and will let you know if we make it to Detroit.  Please come see us next time you are in New York.

Love always,

Maks

Frannie awoke in the sling and started fussing.  Meryl pulled her out and got her ready to eat.

"It's okay, girl.  Momma's crying, too.  It's okay.  Let's eat and then go surprise Daddy at work."  She held her daughter close and let the tears fall.

 

 

 


	35. Chapter 35

Epilogue B

 

Michigan, June 2030

 

Meryl and Charlie sat at the top of the little beach of the lake where their families had rented cabins for a week.  Their children and Maks and Tanith were playing happily in the water.

"Does Maks have a picture of himself in the attic looking old and haggard?" Charlie asked her.

Meryl laughed.  "I know. It's not fair.  You know he's fifty, right?"

"Good lord.  He looks better than he did in his thirties."

Meryl and Charlie both looked every day of their 43 years.  Meryl was exquisitely beautiful with shoulder-length hair and more curves than she had fifteen years before.  She could run a 5K in under twenty-two minutes, though, so her athletic prowess was still there.  Charlie was in decent shape, but he was slightly paunchy as thirteen years at a desk job can cause.  They both had multiple laugh lines on their faces.

"Yeah, it's pretty disgusting."  They watched her golden husband playing vigorously with the children, picking up the little ones and throwing them in the water as they shrieked in delight.  Tanith, as gorgeous as ever in a two-piece suit was right in there with them.

The Davis-Chmerkovskiys were on their way to Italy next week where they would spend July and August.  Meryl was going to do research on a book she was taking a sabbatical year to write.  

"What are Maks and the kids going to do when you're hanging out in old libraries all summer?"

"Oh, I think they'll find plenty to keep them busy.  They made a chart to compare all the gelato flavors they try."

"Are you going to look up Marco?"

"Marco!  From Torrino!   No, I think I'll leave him in peace.  He friended me on Facebook a million years ago.  Or re-friended me, I guess, years after he left.  Probably after Sochi."

"Oh, Facebook, I remember that."

Charlie's middle child, a daughter, came running up to them splashing them with lake water.

"Mom says I need more sunscreen." Charlie looked at the pile of kid beach detritus around his chair.

"I've got some.  Come here, Jacqsy."  Meryl reapplied the lotion into the girl's tanned skin.  "Turn around, shut your eyes tight."  Meryl looked into the face that was so much like her partner's, it was breathtaking.  The two boys were all Tanith, but Jacqsy was Charlie's little female clone.

Tanith and Charlie had nearly divorced four years into their marriage.  Charlie had moved from LA to Detroit thinking his marriage was over, but Tanith followed him a few weeks later, and they had reconciled.  Their oldest son was almost exactly the same age as Meryl and Maks's twins.

"Thanks, Aunt Meryl!"

"Tell Andrei and Vera to come over for theirs."

"Okay."

Meryl's gangly twelve year olds bounded up the little hill.

"Don't you want to swim, Mama?" Vera asked her.

"Yeah, you too, Uncle Charlie," added Andrei. Meryl let them reapply their own sunscreen being so grown up and all.

"We'll be down in a bit.  We have lots to talk about." Meryl told her children.  "Tell Papa he might need a bit more, too."

"Good luck with that," Vera laughed.  "He's working on his tan."

They ran down the hill and back into the water.

"Wait a minute," Meryl called after them, unheeded, of course. "Give it a minute to dry." She said to Charlie.  He laughed.

"Are you sure Andrei isn't going to skate? He has the perfect body, and Jacqsy needs a partner other than one of her brothers. Vera looks like she could be a natural, too."

"They skate, but neither are really into it.  If I could get them to take dance seriously, it would save us all a lot of trouble, but they aren't really interested in that either."

"Oh, that can't be popular with their grandparents."

"No, I've completely failed in my parental duties, but what else is new.  Thank gawd Val's kids are little prodigies.  That's taken the pressure off a bit."

"So, does Maks take any heat for bad parenting?"

"Yes, but they think I'm the root cause.  He's told them it's up to the kids, but they think I've misguided them."

"Well, it's not like they don't have activities."

"Exactly!  They make wonderful grades, they both run--did you know I'm the middle school cross country coach; it's hilarious--and they're both chess champions, but they can only fake a cha cha, and therefore are major disappointments."

"What are chess tournaments like?"

"Oh my god, so intense! Like remember sectionals when we were eleven and twelve and everyone's parents' hopes and dreams are riding on their kids' performances?  Chess.  Maks has been strongly encouraged not to attend anymore. He threw his phone across the room at the last one.  Luckily the kids just laugh at him."

"They are their mother's."

"That's true.  I thought sure they would be super-intense, between my personality and Maks's, but they're not really. I feel lucky."

 

She and Maks had their first major fight in October of her first year of grad school.  They had set a wedding date of December 26, and Meryl had done nothing to plan, as she was busy all the time learning the ropes at Columbia and teaching her first classes.  She loved it, but it was all consuming.  She made the mistake one night of going on a wedding planning website, and she realized how behind she was.  She pleaded with Maks to postpone the wedding until summer, but (via text from LA) he refused to budge.  She called her mother in frustration.

"Hey, Meryl."

"You sound weird."

Cheryl laughed. "Jacqui and I are on an epic walk.  You sound upset."

"AAAAAHHHHHHH! I can't plan this wedding, and Maks won't postpone it, and I don't know what I'm going to do!"

"No, don't postpone it, everyone is planning on the 26th."

"Momma, I can't plan a wedding by then!"

"Of course you can't.  I'll plan it.  You can make all the final decisions, but I'll find everything.  I already have a venue in mind.  I was going to talk to you about this, but I didn't want to stress you out."

"Well, I wish you had."

"I'm going to help, too!" Meryl heard Jacqui in the background.

"Tell her thank you," Meryl said.  "And thank you, Momma.  I can't even tell you."

"You're welcome, sweetie.  I'll call you back on Friday and let you know how it's all coming."

"Thank you, Momma, I love you!"

"I love you, too, Meryl, don't worry about it."  She hung up with her mother and called Maks.

"My mother is doing everything. We'll have a wedding by the 26th."

"Tell Mrs. Davis thank you for me."

"Seriously, Maks, you can call her Cheryl.  I do."

"I cannot call your mother by her first name.  You shouldn't call my mother by her first name, either."

"As if I would."

"Anyway, thanks to her.  I'm sorry about all of this."

"Maks, I'm not always going to give in."

"No you won't. Sometimes I will.  I gave in on your apartment."

"That wasn't much compared to this."

"I wanted you to move in with me.  I wanted you to want to move in with me."

Meryl sighed.  "I know.  You're right about that."

"I love you.  I can't wait to marry you.  Are you sure we can't just get married when I get there on Tuesday?"

"No, we better wait until December."

They had a small but beautiful wedding in an historic building in downtown Detroit.  She asked Charlie to be her man of honor, and Maks had Val as his best man. Clayton and Tanith were ushers.  Meryl wore a simple white backless dress and had her hair down woven with some winter foliage.  The whole room was lit only with candles.  The three men wore classic black tuxedos.  Charlie looked very much like a lawyer with his short hair and glasses.  Maks looked as gorgeous as she had ever seen him.  Val cried through the whole ceremony, but Meryl and Maks held it together until they had walked down the aisle at the end.  Tears were streaming down both faces and they kissed with abandon.

"Look at that," Meryl told him.  He turned to see Val and Charlie walking up the aisle arm in arm.

"This is the weirdest wedding I've ever been to.  I love it.  Your mother is a rock star."

"I know."

After a quick beach honeymoon, they were back in New York for Meryl's spring semester.  They agreed to put off babies until after she finished her master's.  She got accepted into the doctoral program at Rutgers.  It took them six months to conceive the twins.  Andrei Paul and Vera Cheryl were born two months early and spent the first three weeks of their lives in the NICU at Princeton.  Meryl was one year into her program at this point and spent the next year juggling her class-load, her teaching responsibilities, her dissertation and her babies. 

Maks judged his final season of _Dancing with the Stars_ right before the twins were born, and he was an enormous help, but he was running the studios and had to travel some. Many nights he would be up with both babies on his chest, whispering to them in Russian.  Cheryl flew down often, and her mother-in-law helped a lot although not without making Meryl feel like if she was a good mother she would quit her job. Finally, she hired a nanny and cried her eyes out.  There was just no other way to make it all work.  Rutgers had a wonderful day care program, but their whole first year one of the babies was always sick with something.  Often both were sick.  Meryl would lie in bed, unable to sleep and imagine her life traveling the world and studying in Italy.  She adored her sweet children, but she was sincerely doubtful that she could manage her life.

As soon as Andrei and Vera were preschool age, their lives got a whole lot easier.  Potty training alone made Meryl feel like a new woman.  They would go to the Rutgers preschool, and she would work on her dissertation all day, walking over to pick them up and then waiting eagerly for Papa to get home. Her paper was well received; they encouraged her to expand it into a book, and she was offered an assistant professorship at Rutgers.  Maks was so proud, he planned a huge gala for Dr. Davis, whom his family referred to, of course, as Dr. Chmerkovskiy.  And she let them because truth be told, she loved that name, and every time someone at the preschool or doctor's office referred to her as Meryl Chmerkovskiy, it made her smile, even though she always corrected them.

 

That night at the lake after a dinner cooked by all four adults, they all gathered in the large common room of the Belbin-White cabin.  They played charades, and the twins sang a song they had performed at their sixth grade talent show, with the Belbin-White kids joining in the choruses.  Then they played music and cleared the floor to dance.  Meryl teased Charlie by putting on _Happy_ , and he remembered most of his jive.

"I wish Sharna and Paul and their kids were here," Tanith said.

Charlie and Tanith's oldest son, Charles III, who was called Chase, put on that old song from _My Fair Lady_.  "Dad and Aunt Meryl!"

"I could have screeched all night!" Meryl exclaimed.  Charlie went over to his son and phone and found _I'm Getting Married in the Morning_.

"We can do this part, I think," Charlie said and pulled Meryl into hold.  They Finnstepped pretty well across the cabin.  At the end, Charlie went in for a lift.

"Charlie, be careful, I weigh fifteen more pounds than last time you lifted me."

"Oh, I think I can manage it, Merle." He pulled her up into the final lift from Scheherazade, and they all applauded.  Charlie then tangoed with his wife.

"Tanith, why were you never on the show?  We were robbed!" Maks called out.

"I would have loved to do it," she said wistfully.

Meryl put on _Mo Money, Mo Problems_ with a twinkle in her eye.  "Dancing the samba, Charlie White and his professional partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy!"  Her men got in hold and danced beautifully together.  Maks coached them as they danced.  Charlie reminded him they he was eliminated right after their first samba.

"That's the best thing I've ever seen!" Tanith squealed.  "This has happened before?"

"Oh, yes, and it was just as amazing." Meryl filled her in.

"Mama and Papa dance!" called out Vera.

"Yes, Mama and Papa!" said Andrei.

Maks pulled Meryl into a cha cha. "No, not a cha cha!" Andrei protested.  Maks took his son's head under his arm and ruffled his hair.

"I'm just happy you know that is cha cha.  There might be hope for you yet, boy!"

"Waltz, Viennese Waltz, please Mama...Papa," Vera pleaded.

"Viennese Waltz." Maks was looking through his phone.  "Do you remember what song we had for that?"

"It was country--I can't remember. I remember the skirt." Meryl laughed.

"Here's something.  It's old but good." Maks played the song.  It was _Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman_ by Bryan Adams. Maks vamped to the Spanish guitars at the beginning and then got his wife into hold. They twirled around, rise and fall, rise and fall.  They looked at each other, and everyone else disappeared.

"Can you do the spin do you think?" He asked her.

"I'll try." Maks whirled her around and she stayed steady on one foot, her back arched beautifully.  Then Maks got her back in hold and they twirled around the room again, rise and fall, rise and fall.  He took her in his arms at the end and kissed her gently on the mouth, no near-kiss this time.  The room erupted in applause.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so ends our saga. A sincere thank you to all who have read this story for your time and your wonderful comments.


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